Cops and district attorneys enforce the law. It's their job and it's what they're good at. But the most enlightened of them know that it's easier - and cheaper - to keep people out of trouble than to deal with them once they're in it.

That's why Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, California - an organization made up of hundreds of police chiefs, sheriffs, district attorneys and violence survivors - supports Senate Bill 1357 by Sens. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and Elaine Alquist, D-San Jose. Their legislation, approved Thursday and sent to the governor, would help California schools identify students most at risk of dropping out at school while there's still time to steer them right.

"An early warning system," San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos calls it. He is among the 400-plus members of Fight Crimes: Invest in Kids, California, as are Sheriff Rod Hoops, San Bernardino Police