The Latest: Overflow crowd attends rapper’s gang summit

LOS ANGELES – The Latest on a gang summit in Los Angeles organized by the rapper The Game (all times local):

12:20 p.m.

An overflow crowd has gathered at a community centre in south Los Angeles for an anti-gang summit organized by the rapper The Game.

Police Chief Charlie Beck, performer will i.am, along with anti-gang activists and gang members were inside the centre for a town hall style conversation on curbing violence.

Beck shook hands with The Game and the two hugged.

Beck said the meeting was a step in the right direction toward peace, especially considering the police shootings Sunday morning in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The chief poised and chatted with community members, but it was unclear whether he would be a speaker during the meeting.

Speakers and screens were set up outside for those unable to get in. Free water was being handed out to help people brave the hot temperatures.

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8:55 a.m.

Rappers The Game and Snoop Dogg are organizing a summit with Los Angeles-area gang members to discuss ways to curb violence.

The Game put the word out on social media, inviting leaders of the Crips, Bloods and other street gangs to come together at a town hall style meeting Sunday in South Los Angeles.

The event is called “Time To Unite: United Hoods + Gangs Nation.”

The Game, who hails from nearby Compton, says he wants men to have a much-needed conversation about their influence on young people and how to serve as better role models.

Earlier this month, The Game and Snoop Dogg led a peaceful march to Los Angeles police headquarters, where they met with the mayor and police chief and urged improved relations between authorities and minority communities.