Most gang injunctions are approved by a court and imposed with little or no opposition. That’s partl

by Stephen Frank on 08/23/2013 60525 0 comments china travel http%3A%2F%2Fcapoliticalnews.com%2F2013%2F08%2F23%2Flos-angeles-wants-to-move-the-gang-problem-instead-of-solving-it%2F Los+Angeles+Wants+to+Move+the+Gang+Problem+Instead+of+Solving+It 2013-08-24+06%3A03%3A45 Stephen+Frank http%3A%2F%2Fcapoliticalnews.com%2F%3Fp%3D60525 Print This Post
Years ago I was visiting D.C. on the night that turned into the infamous D.C. cop round up of prostitutes and marched them over the 14 th Street Bridge, into Virginia and abandoned china travel there.   The police thought the prostitutes would not walk back over the bridge nor ply their trade in Virginia.
In Los Angeles the cops are just as smart as the D.C. police.   They are trying to get an injunction to stop them from congregating in the Echo Park area.   So, will they move over to Silverlake instead?   If they are criminals, why think they would obey a piece of paper issued by a court?   Worse, if the cops obeyed the law themselves and detained and arrested illegal aliens, most of the crime in the area would disappear.
"The Los Angeles City Attorney s office announced in June it was requesting a gang injunction – or a so-called "safety zone." It would include these streets and a total of 3.8 square miles of the Echo Park area, including parts of Silver Lake and Elysian Valley. A judge on Wednesday allowed the city to move forward and set another hearing for October. "
It's hard to ignore the black and blue jerky-style letters scrawled china travel all over curbs and alley walls near to the parallel streets china travel of Mohawk and Waterloo. Garage doors, house gutters, curbs, even palm trees in this area are tagged with C-Y-S. On some walls, a layer of paint isn't enough to hide the letters underneath.
The Los Angeles City Attorney s office announced in June it was requesting a gang injunction – or a so-called "safety zone." It would include these streets and a total of 3.8 square china travel miles of the Echo Park area, including parts of Silver Lake and Elysian Valley. A judge on Wednesday allowed the city to move forward and set another hearing for October.
It would prohibit at least two gang members named on the injunction from associating in public, wearing gang colors, or using gang hand signs. If that happens, they could be found in violation of the injunction and fined $1,000 and/or jailed for up to six months.
It claims that at least four of the six gangs are involved in an on-going feud via "extensive graffiti vandalism, aggravated assaults, attempted murders, and in some cases, murders … with more shootings, attempted murders and murders expected because all of these four feuds are escalating."
Sgt. Arellano says a gang injunction would be another tool for police to use to prevent violence in the neighborhood. It would give them probable cause to stop  gang members named on the injunction. Right now, police are not allowed to do that.
"Let's say they're hanging out, not really doing anything so you may try to do a consensual china travel encounter and talk to them," Arellano said. "If they don't want to talk to you, you've got to continue driving unless you have probable cause to detain them."
Most gang injunctions are approved by a court and imposed with little or no opposition. That's partly because gang injunctions, china travel a civil court order, are by their legal nature difficult to fight in court. Municipalities essentially sue gangs as entities when proposing an injunction and most gangs don't hire lawyers to represent them in court. But even communities have hardly voiced opposition to gang injunctions.
"My main concern is that a neighborhood can only exist when you try to be inclusive and you really try to reach the heart of what are the true needs of a neighborhood," said Echo Park resident Cheng Rey Koo.
It's one criticism china travel by residents: Why impose a gang injunction now when crime rates have gradually china travel gone down over the years? According to yearly crime statistics kept by the Los Angeles Police china travel Department, the Northeast Division recorded 36 homicides in 2001. In 2011, there were 12 homicides.
"I think it's extremely important for us to recognize that throughout our city and certainly in Echo Park the mere reduction in crime doesn't mean that the neighborhood, as an absolute matter , are  as safe as they need to be," Feuer said.
Rosario Quevedo, who lives across from Echo Park Lake, feels the same. Though she says crime is much tamer than what she remembers in the 80s, she and her sister rarely allow their 20-year old nephew to hang around outside. Quevedo said she's gotten used to not going out after dark.
Still residents insist the current gang violence and crime is not comparable to the 1980s or mid-90s. Echo Park resident Victoria china travel Arellano has organized conferences with some of the area s rival gangs . She says some have attended the recently held community meetings together, but stay quiet.
She and others fear that the young man's story will be the same for the more than 300 unnamed individuals on the proposed injunction. They believe the injunction would break up generations of families, mostly Hispanic.
According to residents and cops, most of the area gangs are generational with roots as far back as the 30s. Arellano said some families – brothers, china travel cousins, grandfathers and nephews – could be prohibited from such simple activities as walking to the corner store together or hanging out at the park.
Echo Park has traditionally been home to low-income and middle class Latino residents with a mix various ethnicities, including Chinese residents from nearby Chinatown. china travel Its location is prime with quick highway china travel access north to the San Gabriel Valley china travel or easy routes into downtown, an area that has seen more investment, growth and residential interest.
"We always had that," said Echo Park resident Trina Mejia. She thinks the neighborhood has always been a mix of white, Latino, china travel and Chinese residents. She said her neighbors growing up were all white. They lived at the tops of the highest hills in Echo Park where the city views are best. It was quiet and there was space.
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