The Crime and Safety Team of the Los Angeles County Community Development Commission/Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles (Housing Authority) was formed in 1997. One of only a handful of public housing authorities in the United States with a unit exclusively dedicated to safety and security issues, the Crime and Safety Team has developed a variety of crime prevention and community organization and outreach programs. These programs include Community Policing, Fraud Investigations, Neighborhood Watch, Community Partnerships, Human Relations, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), Community Safety and Crisis Management, and Management Information Systems.

The goal of this program is to support the creation and sustainability of safer and healthier communities. The Team aims to achieve this objective by facilitating the transfer of skills, knowledge, and resources to public housing residents, Housing Authority staff, and the greater community.

Since 1990, total reported crime at large Housing Authority developments has decreased by almost 50 percent. Community policing has resulted in 1,080 arrests since 1993, and since 1995, narcotics and gang investigators have made more than 500 arrests. Fraud investigators have conducted 95 fraud investigations and filed cases resulting in approximately $432,000 in restitution since 1997.

In addition to its enforcement efforts, the Crime and Safety Team has successfully collaborated with other Housing Authority staff to implement prevention initiatives. Programs aimed at reducing the use of illegal drugs include courses at the Family Resource and Learning Centers, which reach more than 100 youths each month.

The Crime and Safety Team also has achieved numerous other results, including the following: planning and directing HUD's Third Annual Community Policing Conference, for which the Housing Authority received a HUD "Best Practices" Award in 1999; coordinating a CPTED training course and conference; completing a CPTED Manual for the Housing Authority; coordinating wilderness experiences with at-risk youth for Community Policing Teams and Community Safety Committees; conducting Neighborhood Watch planning meetings; and completing a 5-site Gang Assessment Report.