Assembly Member Caballero receives "Crime Fighter" award from members of FIGHT CRIME: INVEST IN KIDS. Pictured with Caballero: (left of Caballero) Stephen Cercone, City of Seaside Police Chief; (right) William Lansdowne, San Diego Police Chief.

SACRAMENTO – Assembly Member Anna Caballero today received the 2007 Crime Fighter Award from Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California, a bipartisan, non-profit, anti-crime organization.  The award was given in recognition of her work as the chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Youth Violence Prevention.

Several law enforcement leaders, who belong to the anti-crime organization FIGHT CRIME: INVEST IN KIDS California, presented Ms. Caballero with the award during a membership luncheon in Sacramento.

“Assemblywoman Caballero is a true champion for crime prevention and youth outreach,” said Barrie Becker, state director of FIGHT CRIME: INVEST IN KIDS California. “She understands the importance of supporting community-based programs that help at-risk kids avoid criminal activity and help juvenile offenders get their lives back on track.”

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California is a bipartisan, non-profit, anti-crime organization led by more than 350 sheriffs, police chiefs, district attorneys, and victims of violence dedicated to reducing crime by supporting early investments – such as after-school, preschool, child abuse and neglect prevention programs and interventions for troubled youth – that are proven to keep kids from becoming involved in crime, saving California both the societal and incarceration costs associated with criminal activity.

“Making essential investments in our youth today not only results in a greater number of healthy and productive adults tomorrow, it also ensures a stronger economy down the road,” Ms. Caballero said.

Assembly Member Caballero conducted four hearings in 2007 of her Assembly Select Committee on Youth Violence Prevention.  Her next hearing will be held on Friday, April 11, in San Francisco, with a focus on developing youth leadership as a strategy to intervene in the lives of youth people currently involved, or at risk of becoming involved with gangs.

While in Sacramento, the police chiefs, sheriffs, district attorneys and victims of violence from Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California also met with several other legislators and administration officials to discuss the importance of funding programs that prevent kids from becoming involved in crime.