Proposed gang injunction is latest salvo in LA's new war on gangs

Thursday December 19, 2002

By PAUL WILBORN
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) A street gang in the northeast area of the city with a history of crime and violence dating back to the 1940s is the target of the city's largest-ever gang injunction sought by the city attorney's office, officials said Thursday.

Under the proposed injunction, identified members of the Avenues gang could be arrested on misdemeanor charges if they are seen together in public. Gang members caught riding together could lose their cars, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said.

The gang injunction, which covers 9.7 square miles of warehouses, working-class homes and apartments, is the city's latest salvo in a renewed war on street gangs. There are currently 13 active gang injunctions in Los Angeles, said Martin Vranicar, who heads the city attorney's gang unit.

Homicides in Los Angeles are up 11 percent over last year, and city officials claim gang violence is behind at least 50 percent of the murders. Mayor James K. Hahn declared war on gangs earlier this month.

For Delgadillo, the gang injunction has personal meaning.

``I grew up in the area where the Avenues gang has preyed upon and terrorized East Los Angeles residents for generations,'' he said.

Delgadillo called the injunction, which must be approved by a judge next month, a vital tool in taking back the streets.

Myriam Magana, who lives in the Glassell Park area covered by the injunction, said gangs have terrorized the neighborhood and marked it with graffiti for years.

``It's difficult for the young kids who live here,'' she said.

Magana called the legal action a first step that should also include intervention efforts and job programs.

The gang has about 900 members, with 120 actively involved in committing crimes and nuisance activities, according to police reports. The gang is responsible for murders, drug dealing, witness intimidation, graffiti, auto theft, and robbery, said Lisabeth Shiner, a deputy city attorney who prepared the injunction.

Gang injunctions are essentially nuisance abatement lawsuits, similar to those used to curtail polluting businesses in a neighborhood.

Along with anti-assembly elements, the injunctions prohibit gang members from carrying guns, intimidating witnesses, using drugs and drinking, and imposes a 10 p.m. to sunrise curfew.

The civil injunction request was filed Dec. 17 and a hearing is set for Jan. 29. Gang members can appear at the hearing to speak against a proposed injunction.

City Councilman Ed Reyes, who also grew up in the neighborhoods covered by the proposed injunction, said he had to cross three gang territories going from his home to a local Catholic school.

``Now you have a generation of elected officials who came from these neighborhoods,'' Reyes said. ``We are back with the notion of a balanced approach to gangs.''

Reyes said the injunction will be paired with increased outreach in the neighborhood by gang intervention programs.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)