The civil injunction - case study in the successful use of temporary restraining against street gangs in Redondo Beach, California

The lawsuit's defendants included 28 gangsters, some with names like "Scrappy," "Monster," and "Li'l Capone." Once a source of terror for neighborhood residents, these gangsters faced jail time for actions as innocuous as littering or stepping onto someone else's property without permission.

As part of a team effort with citizens, city officials, and the local prosecutor's office, the Redondo Beach Police Department used the civil injunction in a successful preemptive strike against gang-related crime. As a result, peace returned to the community, and mothers who once feared taking their children to the park wrote letters of praise and thanks to the police department.

THE REDONDO BEACH EXPERIENCE

In many ways, Redondo Beach typifies the popular conception of Southern California living. Sun bathers, volleyball players, and inline skaters crowd the beach and bike paths. The pier teems with top-quality restaurants and souvenir shops for tourists. The climate typically is neither too cold nor too warm. Well-kept, middle- to upper-middle-class homes abound. To many, Redondo Beach is a very desirable place to live.

Unfortunately, members of the North Side Redondo (NSR) Gang, also known as the Redondo 13, give Redondo Beach high marks too. A turf-oriented street gang currently in its third generation of membership, the NSR has called Redondo Beach home for over 40 years.

While primarily Hispanic, the gang also includes Caucasians, African Americans, and, from time to time, Asians. NSR has a total membership of approximately 180 gangsters, with an active membership of about 40. Members range in age from 14 years old to over 40, with an average age of 24. The gang claims the entire city of Redondo Beach as its turf and has resorted to violence in answer to perceived transgressions by both rivals and innocent residents.

In 1990, the Redondo Beach Police Department petitioned the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office to declare the NSR a violent street gang under the authority of a section of the California Penal Code known as the Street Terrorist Act (STA). Recognizing the violent nature of the gang, the district attorney granted the department's petition. Afterward, the department served identified gang members with papers notifying them of the enhanced sentences they would receive for convictions under the STA.

Yet, NSR members remained undeterred, and over the years, they became involved in many violent and illegal acts. In 1993, the NSR fought a war with a rival gang that resulted in 3 homicides and 11 other shooting incidents. The war ended when over 100 members of the Redondo Beach Police Department and 120 officers from neighboring jurisdictions served search warrants at 16 locations, leading to the arrest and conviction of several key NSR members. This incident became typical of NSR activity over the years--episodes of extreme violence punctuated by periods of general quiet, usually brought about by heavy and aggressive law enforcement interdiction.

SOLVING THE GANG PROBLEM

In July 1995, the Redondo Beach Police Department formally adopted the philosophy of community-oriented policing. Management encouraged department personnel to search proactively for creative solutions to long-standing problems. As a result, in late 1995 when residents expressed concern about the high level of gang activity in and around Perry Park, the community policing officer assigned to their neighborhood gathered residents, city officials, the city prosecutor, and members of the police department--including gang officers, command staff personnel, and the chief--to discuss the situation.

During the meeting, residents offered anecdotal accounts of intimidation, gunfire, drug dealing, and drunken gatherings at all hours of the night. One after another, mothers told how afraid they were to take their children to the park. Police officers familiar with the NSR knew that residents had a factual basis for their fears. Roughly the geographic center around which a number of NSR members lived, Perry Park was long known as a gathering place for NSR gangsters.

By the end of the meeting, the city prosecutor had formulated a plan of attack. First, he would prosecute to the fullest extent of the law any gang members arrested for crimes in and around Perry Park. Next, he would prevent these offenders from entering the park by making it a condition of their probation. Finally, he would use an approach that had proved moderately successful in curbing gang activity in other jurisdictions: filing a civil injunction against the gang members.

The Injunction Process

A civil injunction is a lawsuit that, if granted by the court, requires or limits certain actions by the defendants. In essence, an injunction serves as a protective order for the city.

In this case, the city of Redondo Beach would sue NSR gang members, proving that they were a nuisance and thereby restricting their activity via a court order. Over the next several months, members of the police department's Gang Enforcement Team began the arduous task of proving that a problem existed in Perry Park. To that end, they:

* Examined records for over 1,800 calls for service at or near Perry Park, determining which were gang-related

* Obtained declarations from officers throughout the department recounting day-to-day gang activity in and around Perry Park that had not been documented by other means

* Secured statements from area residents that recounted their experiences with NSR gang members

* Gathered intelligence on the recruitment of new members and gang activity in local schools.

It soon became apparent that Perry Park served as an informal headquarters for NSR activity. Gang Enforcement Team members found evidence of gang activity, which ranged from graffiti and fistfights, to drug- and alcohol-related crimes, weapons violations, and acts of violence. The park also served as the location where new members were "jumped in," slang for the process used to induct new members by physically beating them. In essence, Perry Park had become "... the single most significant factor in the growing strength of NSR."(1)

Rival gangs also had become aware of the significance of the park to the NSR. This only increased the potential for violent confrontations in the surrounding residential area.

For 5 months, officers gathered evidence to use against the gang members. Because they remained responsible for their regular duties, several officers spent numerous off-duty hours working on the injunction.

Their hard work paid off. The resulting 250-page document helped the prosecutor convince a judge to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) and set May 22, 1996, as a date for the hearing. The order prohibited the individuals named from conducting specific activities in Perry Park and the surrounding 24-block area. Many of these acts normally would be legal; yet, including these seemingly innocuous activities gave the order its teeth. If the restraining order banned only illegal acts, it would not have given police any new weapons to use against the gang members. Specifically, the TRO prohibited gang members from

* Violating a midnight curfew instituted for adults

* Being in the presence of an individual who has a weapon (including pipes and screwdrivers)

* Drinking alcohol in public

* Stepping onto private property, such as a neighbor's lawn, except with the owner's written permission

* Whistling, yelling, or signaling to warn others of approaching police officers

* Blocking a street or public walkway

* Using abusive language, racial slurs, or threatening or harassing people

* Littering

* Making unnecessary loud, boisterous or unusual noises or disturbing the peace

* Possessing graffiti-writing materials

* Using, selling, or possessing drugs and drug paraphernalia; and

* Congregating in Perry Park in groups of more than two for the purpose of engaging in any conduct prohibited by the order.

With the restraining order granted, personnel from the department's Administrative Services Division copied and prepared over 11,000 pages of documentation. During the early-morning hours of May 2, approximately 30 officers from every division in the department served 28 key members of the NSR with the TRO. Officers arrested several gang members that day for drug possession and outstanding warrants.

After serving the TRO, the department's patrol officers provided a high-profile presence in the park and made three arrests for violations of the TRO. At their hearing, which was well-attended by gang members, their families, and the public, the judge granted NSR members a continuance so they could acquire legal representation. The TRO remained in effect until the next hearing, which was scheduled for June 28, 1996.

Until then, members of the Gang Enforcement Team and the Special Investigations Unit (a surveillance team), both under temporary assignment to the prosecutor's office, focused their efforts on the leaders of the NSR. Within a few weeks, they had arrested three key NSR members for violating the conditions of their probation or parole, which prohibited them from associating with other gang members.

At the hearing, the judge agreed that the city had made a compelling argument for restricting the activities of the NSR in Perry Park. As a result, he granted the injunction with only minor modifications. For example, he ruled that gang members could not be prevented from carrying baseball bats, which the temporary restraining order had deemed weapons.

Although temporary, the injunction remains in effect for 3 years and, if not challenged, becomes permanent. It also leaves room for the department to add 50 "John Does" to the 28 gang members already named. In doing so, the injunction restricts the activities of key gang members and their progeny indefinitely.

Results

Early statistical analysis reflects a significant decrease in gang activity in and around Perry Park since the restraining order was granted. Before the TRO, on average, 42 gang-related crimes occurred each month. In the 3 months after the TRO took effect, the area experienced a 38.5 percent decrease in similar activities. Of special note, violent crime and gang contacts plummeted. After 6 months with the TRO in place, violent crime had decreased almost 90 percent; gang contacts, over 70 percent.

Perhaps more important, residents feel a new-found sense of security. In fact, as soon as the injunction was granted, citizens and police personnel alike felt a sense of victory over the NSR. For the first time, the police department believes it has the proper legal tools to effectively dismantle the NSR as a criminal organization.

Means to an End

The injunction process represents merely one part of the department's comprehensive gang strategy that includes intelligence-gathering, school intervention, graffiti abatement, high-profile enforcement, vertical prosecution, and community support. Each aspect is important in its own right; yet, some hold particular significance.

For example, prosecutors who take one case from start to finish--a process known as vertical prosecution--become stakeholders in the process. This proved crucial during the injunction process. In Redondo Beach, the city prosecutor knows the identity and background of every gang member. As a result, he takes a personal interest in every case and makes a special effort to see each one through to the end, which usually means stiff penalties for hardcore gangsters.

The level of support provided by community residents can mean the difference between success and failure for any law enforcement initiative. Perry Park residents supported the gang injunction process and currently participate in other programs designed to curb crime in their neighborhood.

ATTRACTING ATTENTION

Although the department initially attracted local media attention for its aggressive handling of an entrenched gang problem, the spotlight grew until it reached across the country. At an anticrime rally in Perry Park, the governor and the state attorney general personally congratulated members of the Gang Enforcement Team for their efforts. And, the Police Executive Research Forum selected the gang injunction program to receive an honorable mention for the 1996 Herman Goldstein Excellence in Problem Solving Award.

CONCLUSION

The injunction process worked in Redondo Beach for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it gave the department a useful tool to combat gang-related crime, which had been driving a difficult and longstanding set of interrelated problems in the community. It also demonstrated to the citizens of Redondo Beach that the police were, and are, willing to work with them to solve problems. Furthermore, it served as an example of the effectiveness of community involvement in the problem-solving process and, in fact, showed that community- and problem-oriented policing can work.

Likewise, the process demonstrated that inter- and intra-departmental cooperation can allow agencies to use available resources to solve chronic problems. Indeed, when the police, prosecutors, and the public work together, once seemingly insurmountable problems can be solved.

Endnote

Sergeant Phil Keenan, Redondo Beach Police Department, civil injunction.

COPYRIGHT 1997 Federal Bureau of Investigation
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