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One Reporter's Opinion We Must Win the Gang War George Putnam It is this reporter's opinion that as a young broadcaster we thought we could help the police, sheriff, city council, board of supervisors, probation department, and the mayor of Los Angeles himself turn youth gangs into productive clubs. We held athletic events, dances, and community dinners bringing together the young troublemakers of the community. We organized youth awards honoring them for their good deeds.
How naοve we were! Young gangs flourished. Little did we realize we were working with the grandchildren of ethnic gangs who had been in conflict since the beginnings of Los Angeles. Gangs like the White Fence Gang, Boilstreet Gang, the 18th Street Gang (later to become the Crips), the Bloods, and the internationally infamous MS-13 have become a way of life and a subculture for many of today's youth.
Little did we know that beneath the surface we were dealing with a large cartel who controlled dope, prostitution, extortion, kidnapping in short, a criminal enterprise operation, not just another street gang. These gangs are nothing short of a Mafia, a Cosa Nostra; and in the case of the prison system, a subculture that controls international prison communications.
We are using a form of RICO that has been so effective in dealing with our nation's mobs fed up with deadly drive-by shootings, incessant drug dealing, and gun running. We are now suing them. City after city is going to court disrupting gang activity with injunctions!
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Our courts are giving police legal reasons to stop and question gang members on the streets, locking them up when found with drugs or weapons. As one complaining gang member said, "Those cops don't even allow us to talk to people in passing cars or to carry spray paint."
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is furious. Chicago has tried to target gangs by enacting an anti-loitering ordinances but the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down saying it gave police the authority to arrest without cause. But other cities have used injunctions to target specific gangs and gang members. And so far, that strategy has withstood court challenges. Los Angeles has 33 permanent injunctions involving 50 gangs and studies show the injunctions do reduce crime. The injunctions prohibit gang members from associating with each other, carrying weapons, possessing drugs, committing crimes, and displaying gang symbols. And now the injunctions are extending to targeting whole families. As one gang member said, "Seven months in jail is a big penalty for sitting on the front porch or riding in the car with your gang buddies." All of this isn't perfect, but we are making progress in our all out attempt to prevent the street gangs from becoming a unified criminal enterprise. We may be winning!
Editor's note:
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