Church Minister to Lead Million-Dollar Fight Against US Gangs

An evangelical church minister has been lined-up to lead a million-dollar program to fight gang crime in Los Angeles, USA.

LA's mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa has reported that Reverend Jeff Carr, a minister in the Church of the Nazarene has been appointed as director of a gang reduction and youth development program for the city.

Gang problems are well-known in the West Coast American city, with an estimated 40,000 gang members active in the region.

Rev Carr has been given the task to lead an audit of the 23 gang-prevention programmes already operating in LA. He said: "We can't arrest our way out of this problem. We have got to figure out how to provide opportunities to communities who have been bypassed for years."

Bringing experience to his new role, Rev Carr has previously worked for a religious foundation running faith-based programmes for low-income youth in America.

It is hoped that the Church minister will lead a successful fight against gang crime in the city, with Mr Villaraigosa, earlier this year calling for international efforts to help deal with gang crime in the city. At that time he explained that LA was a breeding ground for Latino gangs worldwide.