Gang injunctions: legal frameworks and effectiveness

Criminal Justice

Gang Injunctions

Gang injunctions occur when the City Attorneys Office, with the OK of a judge, orders an injunction against specific members of a gang. This is in effect a lawsuit, and it prohibits gang members from specific activities, like drug dealing (Alonso). Many people oppose gang injunctions saying they violate freedom of speech and human rights. However, many communities, such as San Diego, CA, San Antonio, TX, and Chicago have adopted gang injunctions. In most injunctions, if the gang members violate the injunctions, they have to pay a fine and serve jail time. For example, in San Diego, which bans a variety of gang activities, including tagging crews, if they violate the injunction they have to pay $1,000 fine and serve six months in jail (Editors).

Studies have attempted to discover if gang injunctions really help communities, and several studies indicate they do. A group of authors studied gang injunctions in several communities. They found, "The more immediate, or proximal, effects on neighborhood residents should be observed in reduced gang visibility, graffiti, instances of gang intimidation and fear of gang victimization as well as increased police visibility" (Maxson, et al. v). This was especially true in the area of graffiti and tagging crews. A participant in the study notes, "The gang members were scared to come outside, scared to hang out together.' and, 'it is still working.' He noted that graffiti and other signs of gang activity have declined dramatically. He pointed out that a wall near the park had graffiti 24/7, 365 days a year prior to the injunction, but not lately" (Maxson, et al. vii). Thus, gang injunctions control a variety of gang-related activities, but they can help control the spread of graffiti and the actions of tagging crews, keeping neighborhoods not only safer, but less unsightly for the people who live there.