KTLA News: "Barrio Brothers announces ad campaign targeting gang violence" (1974)

[Mr. Rios] We are now saying that we have to get into the community and mobilize the human resources inside the community to to do something about it and, I think, that this is the approach that we know about because we've been in existence 27 years and this is our method of doing things- organizing people, mobilizing people to do things for themselves. We can also stimulate the church, the school, the parents group and the youth groups to also develop programs of friendship, of brotherhood, you know, where they bring youngsters together to have interaction-type of activities. This is how you solidify relationships rather than, you know, being away segregated and fighting each other for, you know, jurisdictional questions and all that sort of thing. [Silence]. [Ambient noise]. [Reporter Jan Mitagawa] How'd he die? [Silence]. [Ambient noise]. [Reporter Mitagawa] Mr. Ree's... [Mr. Rios] Rios. [Reporter Mitagawa] Rios. [Mr. Rios] R-i-o-s. [Reporter Mitagawa] Mr. Rios, do you think this sort of attack on the gang problem will actually stop it. The law enforcement agencies, street workers have worked on that for three and a half years what makes you think this will work? [Mr. Rios] Well, I don't know what your question may be as to what it is it's going to work. I think that all the things that have been tried have not worked simply because the people in the community, in the barrios are not involved in in the effort. I think the police department has build up its image through all its public relations work and there's more respect for police but that doesn't effect the, you know, the relationship between barrio groups or barrio gangs as...if you, if you please. ...so that our technique. [Reporter Mitagawa] And this will help stop the gang violence and gang warfare? [Mr. Rios] Obviously any of...any...major effort that a group of people collectively get involved in, they will have an impact on that problem. For instance, our credit unions now. We're reaching almost half a million dollars in three neighborhood credit unions. Over the years we keep building, building, building. Uh... we hope to develop "Enter Barrio" programs and relationships. We have a queen contest this is going into the third year. We're drawing candidates from different barrios and then we have a countywide, eventually maybe a statewide, queen contest. Again, we're drawing people together to be active in, you know, in a common...in a common cause. Later on maybe we can sponsor uh... regional and state uh...uh... and interstate uh...uh... soccer leagues and many other things. ...It's, it's a jurisdictional question and, and the loyalty of a group to its own barrio, you know, fighting and, you know, others from other barrios and this sort of thing. [Reporter Mitagawa] Now your program, is it just the barrios? Or is it also the ghettos concerning the black gangs? [Mr. Rios] It...in this... in our program it's restricted to the barrio simply because it's unique to the barrios, this problem is unique to the barrios. You have gang or violence type of activities in other communities but they are not built on that... jurisdictional...uh, you know...uhm... basis or the barrio loyalty- the loyalty, the group loyalty type of thing. So it's different our...I think the problem in the barrio is unique in that sense and uh...obviously brotherhood applies to everybody. But I'm saying that our approach to stop the killings and the violence in the barrio has to be done by our method because we have some experience in it and also because it is unique, the problem is unique to the barrio. [Ambient noise]. [Silence]. [Reporter Mitagawa]...a question... [Ambient noise]. [Reporter Mitagawa] Last week Channel 5 ran a series on the chicano gangs. Did this have any input into your program at all? [Mr. Rios] Well, no. The...I don't know what that program was about. I didn't watch it and I don't know what the uh... object was. Uh... whatever publicity is given to the problem itself, I think, exposes uh... the problem and, and draws more attention to it and that may help us in the overall effort. It's saying instead of Islands we have, you know, a better alternative. And obviously any kind of publicity would help us in the overall effort. [Ambient noise]. [Reporter Mitagawa] How's your day been? [Mr. Rios] Today? Well...[unintelligible]. [Ambient noise]. [Silence]. [Ambient noise]. [Reporter Mitagawa] The CSO believes that the first step in fighting gang warfare is to call attention to the problem and so they've launched this massive advertisement program. Jan Mitagawa, Channel 5 News, in Los Angeles.