Pen. Code, § 13826

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) That violent activity by gangs is a serious and growing problem in the State of California.

(b) There is an increasing percentage of school age pupils involved in gang activity.

(c) There are many schools that serve a disproportionate number of youth involved in gang activity which are unable to effectively implement programs designed to prevent youth from becoming involved in gang activity. There is no statewide funded educational program developed for this purpose.

(d) There is evidence that gang involvement among youth begins at an early age.

(e) There is evidence that the parents of gang members lack appropriate parenting skills.

(f) There is evidence that drug activity is increasing among youth involved in gang activity.

(g) There is evidence that gang members have no contact with positive role models.

(h) There is evidence that most gang members lack basic educational skills.

In enacting this chapter, the Legislature intends to support increased efforts by district attorneys’ offices to prosecute the perpetrators of gang violence, support increased efforts by local law enforcement agencies to identify, investigate, and apprehend perpetrators of gang violence, support increased efforts by county probation departments to intensively supervise gang members who are on court-ordered probation, support gang violence prevention and intervention efforts by school districts and county offices of education, and support gang violence suppression efforts by community-based organizations.