City to Get $1 Million to Fight Crime : Funds: Justice Department chooses Santa Ana, 15 other cities nationwide for Operation Weed and Seed. The program will target a specific neighborhood.

SANTA ANA — The Justice Department has chosen Santa Ana and 15 other cities nationwide to receive $1 million each for an intense, experimental attack on gangs and drugs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced here Monday.

The cities, chosen in part because of their significant crime problems, will bring together law enforcement and social service agencies in an orchestrated assault on a targeted neighborhood.

Through Operation Weed and Seed, the cities will try to weed out crime and then seed the area with job training, crime and drug prevention programs and neighborhood improvements, officials explained.

Santa Ana’s target area is bounded by First, Sullivan and Raitt streets and McFadden Avenue. Included within the area are Lincoln and Monte Vista elementary schools and Jerome, Friendship and Center parks. Crime in the target area is three times the citywide average. Police statistics for 1990, the most recent year available, show 2,416 crimes reported there, compared to 771 citywide.

The idea behind Weed and Seed is to involve law enforcement, social service agencies, neighbors and City Hall in a coordinated assault.

“Rather than doing it piecemeal, the strategy is to really go and save a neighborhood,” said Acting U.S. Atty. Terree A. Bowers at a press conference here.

Although specific plans must be approved by the Justice Department, Edward R. McGah Jr., spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles, said Santa Ana would see increased patrols, code enforcement and graffiti removal in about a month.

Significant change will be seen in a year, he said, and the experimental program is expected to be in use citywide.

“This isn’t just a weekend raid on a troubled spot,” Mayor Daniel H. Young said.The operation will “make sure there is a lasting effect,” he said.

The city of Santa Ana will commit an additional $25 million during the next few years in local revenues to improve sidewalks, curbs and gutters, and improve city facilities within the targeted area, city officials said.

“If we do the job right, the neighborhood will not only be devoid of criminals, but will look better,” Young said. “We want people to live and enjoy living in that neighborhood again.”

To encourage residents to identify criminal suspects, Operation Weed and Seed will use federally trained personnel to counsel victims and witnesses during investigations and trials. Also, the program will work to ensure that suspects are not released before trials, McGah said.

“The citizen can see that the offender doesn’t just beat the police back to the neighborhood,” he said. “I would hope people will take comfort from a coordinated effort being made in the community. If they . . . stick with it, the person will be convicted and do jail time.”

The operation also will work to eliminate substandard housing.

“Housing used by gangs and narcotic dealers is usually substandard,” McGah said.

Drug education programs in the area’s two elementary schools also will be increased, as will a gang intervention program to provide jobs and positive role models. To help implement the operation, a task force of city officials and community and school leaders has been established.

“What we’ve always needed is a coordinated enforcement strategy,” McGah said. “We will hit the ground running.”

City Councilman Miguel A. Pulido Jr. said he was ecstatic over the award.

“The ‘seed’ portion of the program, which aims at preventing crime, is something I think we can’t overplay,” he said.

Santa Ana Police Chief Paul M. Walters said he expects the operation will bring about tremendous change in the community. Half of the $1 million to fund the operation will be received this year, with the balance subject to congressional appropriation in fiscal year 1993.

Los Angeles and San Diego also were among the 16 chosen cities invited by the Justice department to apply for the program.

“This should not be viewed as a panacea,” Bowers warned. But, she said, “this is an outstanding beginning.”

Times correspondent Jon Nalick contributed to this story.