Ken Bell has a devotion to serving his community and has exemplified this commitment throughout his wide ranging career. Ken has a particular passion for our youth and using his career expertise was able to take those skills and merge them into his 24 years as a Member of the Duarte Board of Education by mentoring the students of Duarte and instituting a multitude of programs that provide leadership skills and value reinforcement.

He is a 36 year veteran of law enforcement having worked 21 years with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department before transferring to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation. He has 25 years of experience working in all aspects of juvenile street gangs. He is one of the original detectives assigned to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department street gang unit. After a long and distinguished career, Ken Bell retired from the District Attorney’s Office, “Hard Core Gang Unit”.

He is a nationally recognized street gang expert, who continues to train and consult for law enforcement agencies, school personnel, and community and parent groups. Ken was the subject of a top rated documentary on BET television, titled “American Gangster” in 2007-2008 and several gang documentaries titled “Gangland” on the History Channel and National Geographic Channel in 2008-2010 and also on the new A&E program titled “Peacemaker”, 2010. 

He also lectures at many school and church youth groups on recognizing street gang mannerisms and antisocial behavioral patterns. He has taught a class entitled “Student and the Law” at LA Unified and Centinella Valley school districts for thirteen years. He is presently a faculty member of UC Davis, Golden West College and St Petersburg College.

Ken’s second passion is that of Member of the Duarte Board of Education where he has served the Duarte youth for the past 25 years. His mentoring program, “Yes, We Can!” takes 6th grade students from the five elementary school sites to celebrate the diversity of the community and build strong relationships as they prepare for the transition to middle school. This focus is the culmination of his professional training and stems from his desire to cultivate our students in a healthy environment, making the ‘correct’ choices, so that they may all grow and thrive. Ken has recently expanded his mentoring program to the high school level. The new program is called “S.T.A.R.” (Students taking action responsibly) and it involves student leaders who will receive training and they will assist on campus collaboration for positive interaction among their peers.

Ken Bell has been happily married for the past 45 years and is the proud father of five children all of whom have graduated from the Duarte school system and have gone on to have successful careers along with his seven fantastic grandchildren.

SEE KEN’S REFERENCES