The fight against gangs

The injunction against gangs operating in Echo Park and surrounding areas has reopened the debate on how to address the problem of young people being attracted to these groups and the threat to public safety that they represent.

The city had requested the injunction to prohibit the members of six specific gangs from associating in public, carrying firearms, drinking alcohol in public, or possessing aerosol paint cans, markers, or other items used to create graffiti.

These measures have led to a reasonable concern, as expressed in the opposition to the idea by the Greater Echo Park-Elysian Neighborhood Council. The possibility that a young Latino could be harassed by the police just for wearing certain clothes worries many parents. It is also a question of civil rights.

The way to combat gangs is with programs and jobs for young people. These provide alternatives to the temptation of joining these groups, but available opportunities are insufficient.

At the same time, these injunctions, of which there are 45 in our city against 72 gangs, serve a basically preventive function by declaring public activity by gangs a public nuisance: a problem known to those who have had to paint over graffiti on their walls or been victims of a robbery.

Injunctions against gangs have proven to be effective, but avoiding abuses that jeopardize relations between the police and the community all depends on how they are implemented.