ORLANDO, Fla. — As Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith explained Thursday, curbing shootings and other violent crimes is a priority for law enforcement, and the Orlando Police Department and county authorities are making use of the Orange County Citizens Safety Task Force to assist in that effort. 

Ruben Saldaña is a credible messenger consultant who has worked with at-risk youth for 10 years through a series of martial arts activities and by mentoring them from his own backyard in the Oak Ridge community. 

He served 19 years in prison starting when he was 16 years old because of activity in what he said was once the biggest street gang in Orlando and Miami. 

“To take somebody so young into an institution — where there's nothing but adults, murderers, rapists, OGs, right? And then so you either survive or you die in there," Saldaña said. "So obviously, I survived in there. In order to survive, you got to do things that your average human wouldn't do.”

He says he turned his life around and created Ru Camp, a safe space for at-risk youth to advocate for prevention before detention.

Saldaña hosts healing circles, animal care, arts, Afro-Latin break dancing and provides coaching on skills for youth mixed martial arts and boxing. He trains young people of all ages, up to 25 years old, at no cost to them. 

“I'd rather see them in this cage — the mixed martial arts sport in a cage with rules — than in the prison cage without the rules,” he said.

Saldaña said he has tried to keep youth safe by mentoring them, listening to their problems and educating them through his lived experiences. 

"You have to listen. The best mentors are like psychiatrists, right? Without going through the colleges or the mental health specialists," Saldaña said. "My story is not their story. When they ask me to share my story, I'll share my story. Then they understand. 'He can get it. He can relate. He's a survivor.'”

Ru Camp's new gloves-up, guns-down initiative focuses on preventing gun violence by helping youths identify dangerous situations and what to do in those cases. 

“I have trained hundreds of kids, hundreds in this area — Parramore, Pine Hills — every red zone in Compton, in L.A., in New York and Chicago and Texas, all the five boroughs of New York City," Saldaña said. "We have not had a single arrest under our watch, not one.”

Saldaña said his goal is to continue his mission to show youths there is always a better way to do things without violence.