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

FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,The, Nov, 1997 by Jeffrey R. Cameron, John Skipper

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: