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Extracted from Consolidated Report

This investigation was originally published as part of a larger consolidated report containing multiple investigations. View the consolidated PDF for the complete document.

Napa County Grand Jury • 2024-2025

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Published: September 30, 2024 28 pages
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Findings 9 findings

F1 Page 131
The Jury found that gang activity and gang association in Napa County are on the rise. The City of Napa agrees with the finding. The District Attorney and Sheriff agree with this finding.
F2 Page 131
The Jury found that due to the employment demographics in Napa County, increasing numbers of children are left unsupervised. This situation was exacerbated by the Covid Pandemic. The City of Napa agrees with the finding. The District Attorney and the Sheriff agree in part with this finding but would be interested in looking into more evidence to in support of this finding, or learning if it is California-wide, or unique to Napa County.
F3 Page 131
The Jury found current gang activity and recruitment is more apparent in middle school and even younger ages. The City of Napa agrees with the finding. The District Attorney and Sheriff agree with this finding.
F4 Page 131
The Jury found that despite it having been proved to be successful, vocational curriculum has been eliminated within the NVUSD. The City of Napa agrees with the finding. The District Attorney and Sheriff agree with this finding. NVUSD disagrees with this finding. NVUSD has not eliminated its vocational curriculum. NVUSD’s vocational curriculum offerings have been relabeled as Career Technical Education or “CTE,” and as described in more detail below, NVUSD has extensive offerings for students at all of NVUSD’s high schools.
F5 Page 131
The Jury found that Napa County has little to no after school activities for teens and preteens. There is a need for organized free programs, including sports and other after school activities. 124 | Pa ge The City of Napa disagrees partially with the finding. While the City of Napa agrees that additional programs would be beneficial to the community, we disagree that there are little to no programs available. Programs are available, as discovered by the members of the Grand Jury, however not all families are aware of the programs or may experience barriers to participating in the programming. For example, some programs may require a guardian or parent to pick up the child at a specific time. The District Attorney and Sheriff agree in part, that more free and affordable programs would be good for the community. We disagree, however, with the description of "little to no" after school activities. In addition to the affordable programs for teens and pre-teens offered by the various Parks and Recreation departments of the various cities in Napa County, the Napa Valley Boys and Girls Club and the Boys and Girls Club of St. Helena and Calistoga offer a variety of after school programs for affordable fees that are largely subsidized by both government grants and local philanthropy. Napa County also offers a variety of youth sports including soccer (all levels), rugby, lacrosse, football, baseball, among others. The various youth sports organizations vary in pricing but most offer scholarships and financial aid with the assistance of local philanthropy. The Napa Sheriff's Activities League (SAL) also offers a variety of free sports programs including Boxing, Baseball skills, Judo, and Wrestling. SAL also has an after-school fitness center in East Napa. The SAL programs are free of charge. Besides SAL Boxing, there are four additional boxing clubs in Napa that are fee based, but affordable. The local mental health non- profit, Mentis, also offers "Napa Valley Teens Connect", which offers mental health, empowerment, wellness programs at various NVUSD school sites. The School District disagrees with this finding in part. While the School District agrees that more after-school activities are needed throughout the County, as described in more detail below, the School District offers a number of organized free programs, including sports and other after- school activities at every single school in the School District.
F6 Page 132
The Jury found that gang activity is supported by illegal money-making opportunities which can be attractive to underprivileged youth. The City of Napa agrees with the finding. The District Attorney and Sheriff agree with this finding.
F7 Page 132
The Jury found that coordination and communication among law enforcement, educators, and local service providers is not effective. The City of Napa disagrees partially with the finding. The city supports additional efforts and recommendations to improve coordination and communication between partner agencies, however information that impacts the safety of the children is freely shared between public safety and academic organizations. Napa Police Department Youth Services/Student Resource Officers (SROs) and Napa Valley Unified School District are in regular communication. Leadership of these organizations also meet quarterly. 125 | Pa ge The District Attorney and Sheriff partially disagrees with this finding. We support efforts to expand coordination and communication to share information and intelligence through relationships, phone calls, and virtual and in=person meetings. The Napa County law enforcement community, and particularly the members of this community involved in juvenile crime prevention and enforcement, is small. Napa Police Department's Youth Services Bureau (YSB), the various School Resource Officers (SROs) from all agencies, juvenile probation officers, prosecutors, and many of the service providers are in frequent communication already. Their meetings and relationships are such that they can discuss or call one another with any questions or information as needed.
F8 Page 133
The Jury found that data on gang membership and activity is limited and ineffective at gang intervention and prevention. The City of Napa agrees with the finding. The District Attorney and Sheriff agree that the data is limited, and that this limitation can hinder gang intervention and prevention.
F9 Page 133
The Jury found that some state legislation and propositions passed by the voters are hindering law enforcement’s ability to interdict gang crime and, in doing so, improve gangs’ ability to make money, which attracts more gang members. The City of Napa agrees with the finding. The District Attorney and Sheriff Office agree with this finding.

Recommendations 10

No Responses Found 5

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.

Calistoga City
Napa City
Napa County County
Napa County Sheriff Elected County Office
St. Helena City