State of the City: Fighting gangs

Despite a financial crisis that threatens to cripple Los Angeles with everything from service cuts to layoffs, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa pledged Monday to continue boosting the ranks of the Police Department and pouring money into ridding city streets of gang violence.

For the second consecutive year, Villaraigosa centered his State of the City address on preventing and reducing gang crime - including adding four gang-reduction zones to eight created last year and spending $18 million in hands-on gang programs in those 12 hard-hit communities. Daily News.

"Public safety is the first obligation of government," Villaraigosa said during his address at LAPD headquarters.

"When you don't have safe streets, everything falls apart. People become isolated. Kids turn into prisoners. Jobs evaporate. Families struggle just to survive."