To deter crime, Los Angeles leaves the lights on

"We hired young people [to be part of the Youth Squads] who are right on the fence of going the wrong way or the right way. Their family members are associated with gangs and some have already tried it out," says Zepeda, who grew up near Ross Snyder Park. "We hope this motivates them to go the right way."

Many of the young people that night talked about a shooting just the day before. It was across from the park. They say it kept many kids and their parents away that night. The soccer field was still full of dozens of youngsters, and smatterings of teenagers hung around inside and outside the recreation center. But it was a relatively sparse turnout compared with other Summer Night Light evenings in the city.

"There are shootings [in this area] every day. For the first time, here's a park that's open. The LAPD is here. People feel like they are safe. The reality is that if this wasn't here, someone would have gotten shot in the park," says Zepeda.

L.A. has some 39,000 gang members and, according to the Los Angeles Times, while serious crimes dropped overall in 2007, gang-related crimes increased 14 percent. In South Los Angeles, the newspaper reported, gang violence climbed 25 percent.

In the Newton district alone, an estimated 47 gangs, many with overlapping turf, are active within 9.8 square miles, according to an assessment of the area by the Advancement Project, a public policy group. In a report that was commissioned by the mayor's office, it says that Newton is "one of the most gang saturated areas of the City of Los Angeles."

"Community members were asked at what age young people were being recruited to join gangs. The most consistent answer was around 10 years old or fifth grade," according to the report.

Inside the park's recreation center, Brizanery Gomez says she has had more than her fair share of brushes with gang violence. "One of my best friends died in a car accident doing a drive-by. We were only in the eighth grade.... It used to be every day, shootings and killings. I guess I got used to it."

In an ad hoc recording studio set up at the recreation center, the 15-year-old keeps the microphone close to her mouth, tries to hold back an embarrassed smile, and raps over a repetition of slow beats. A poster on the cinderblock wall behind her reads, "No Haters Here." Instructors and others in the poetry and hip hop class look on as she tests her rhyme.

"It's cool because they get you confident and they get you to express your feelings," says Brizanery of the instructors. Later, she darts off to an improv class.

Alex Alonso, who runs the website streetgangs.com, which chronicles gang activity in L.A., says the largest gang in the Newton district is the 38th Street Gang, whose graffiti is sprayed across a long metal trash bin at the park. "In an average gang neighborhood, you have about 15 percent of young people joining up," says Mr. Alonso. Most "of these guys are born into it."

Alonso says Summer Night Lights needs to be expanded. "We need more of these programs. We're talking about a few neighborhoods for only a small duration in time." Still, he says, "Once it's over, we'll be able to look at the data and see that it had a positive impact."

On a Saturday night last summer, Ross Snyder would have been an "empty space ... an attractive public nuisance for guns, gangs, crime, and drugs," says Villaraigosa. "Now, it's a safe haven, a magnet for building community, for bringing people out of the darkness and into the light."

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