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County's first gang injunction sought
By: JOHN HALL - Staff Writer | ∞
RIVERSIDE ---- It may soon become much more difficult for criminal street gangs to do their thing ---- including wearing gang clothing or flashing signs ---- in parts of Riverside County.
For the first time in county history, a civil lawsuit seeking an injunction has been filed against a violent gang which claims a portion of the city of Riverside as its turf.
Deputy District Attorney Jack Lucky, whose job it is to draft such lawsuits when asked by law enforcement agencies, said Friday that similar injunctions could make their way to Southwest County, as well.
"We are looking countywide. I have been requested by at least one (Southwest County) law enforcement agency to look at two gangs in their area," Lucky said.
He declined to identify the area or the gangs so as to not tip off members of those gangs.
Once a police or sheriff's department comes to the district attorney's office requesting a gang injunction, "there is a monumental effort" that follows to get the proper documents needed to file the civil lawsuit, Lucky said.
That work has been done in the case of one Riverside gang, a gang District Attorney Rod Pacheco called the largest and most violent in the county.
At a news conference Friday afternoon, Pacheco said the gang, Eastside Riva, has more than 700 members, of which 114 have been identified for the injunction. So far, he added, 89 of those have been served with a notice of the pending injunction.
Since Jan. 1, 2001, those 114 Eastside Riva gangsters have committed 897 documented crimes and have totalled 333 convictions, including some for murder, Pacheco said.
The news conference was held at E.T. Patterson Park, not far from the UC Riverside campus. Pacheco identified the park as the center of Eastside Riva gang territory, saying it had been taken over by the gang.
"Those days are gone and will be gone forever," he said.
As Pacheco spoke, children laughed and played in parts of the park behind him, while numerous armed members of law enforcement gang task forces stood nearby.
"Eastside Riva gang members have shown they cannot and will not allow citizens to live safely in this area," Pacheco said.
"We are determined to change that," he said, citing this injunction as a huge step toward that goal.
If Riverside County Superior Court Judge Edward Webster grants the district attorney's request at a Sept. 14 hearing, members of the gang will face the possibility of arrest and prosecution should they violate the injunction within what is called "a safety zone," a geographical area identified in the lawsuit.
Safety zones are typically areas known by authorities to be the gang's turf. In the case of Eastside Riva, it is a roughly three-square mile, irregularly shaped area where their activities are restricted and includes three high schools, two middle schools and two elementary schools.
Part of the identified gang turf runs just a couple of blocks from the Hall of Justice and Historic Courthouse in downtown Riverside.
Known gang members are not permitted to do any of the following within a safety zone: associate with one another, be around illegal drugs, trespass or loiter, violate curfew, drive recklessly, give police false information, try to intimidate anyone, consume alcohol in public, possess guns or illegal weapons, possess items used for vandalism or graffiti, fight in public or have any police scanners or two-way radios.
Anyone identified in the lawsuit as being a member of the gang can attend the hearing to dispute it.
Similar gang injunctions are in place in other areas of Southern California ---- including Escondido and Oceanside ---- and have proven successful in the battle against criminal street gangs, Pacheco said.
In previous cases, civil rights advocates have said injunctions like this violate basic freedoms before any actual crimes are committed.
Pacheco said gang injunctions are actually civil proceedings.
"Unless it is violated and then it becomes a criminal case," he said.
Without an injunction, police and deputies can only react to crimes committed by gang members.
"A gang injunction is a proactive method we can now use," Pacheco said.
When this civil lawsuit makes its way before the judge next month, it will request he grant a preliminary injunction against the gang, calling their activities "a public nuisance."
If granted, the district attorney's office will later seek a permanent injunction, Pacheco said.
"We're taking down criminal street gangs in Riverside County one gang at a time," the district attorney said.
According to statistics from the district attorney's office, as of 2006, there were 341 documented gangs in Riverside County comprised of more than 10,000 known members.
When asked what injunctions such as this one should tell gang members, Pacheco quickly quipped, "They should find another line of work or move to another county."
Contact staff writer John Hall at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2628, or jhall@californian.com.
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Make all of America wrote on Aug 25, 2007 2:36 AM:a 'safe zone'----- get rid of them all. This who are here illegally, deport them. Those who are 'citizens,' stick 'em in jail. Better yet, execute them old west style. Human scum.
Jake wrote on Aug 25, 2007 8:31 AM:It figures the civil rights activists fight these kind of things. But of course these thugs should get priority over the regular lawabiding citizens. Yes, we need to worry about their rights first, what was I thinking?!
? wrote on Aug 25, 2007 9:19 AM:What is a gang and what is not. The way the law is now 2 or more are a gang. I think they need to know the difference between a real gang or just kids straying. There is a difference.
GREAT! wrote on Aug 25, 2007 9:37 AM:Great to hear we are finally taking a stand! good luck! I'm thrilled! The founders of the constitution I'm certain would change so many things if they were alive to see the monsters we have created. We need to find an island where all gangsters can congregate ...
The Wizard of Oz wrote on Aug 25, 2007 10:33 AM:Hey ? what are you talking about? It goes a little deeper than "The way the law is now 2 or more are a gang." Get real. There are certain criteria that must be met before a group of people can be identifed as a criminal gang. Documentation is an important step in all this. Try to know what you are talking about BEFORE you blog.
Citizen X wrote on Aug 25, 2007 10:42 AM:When an individual joins a gang they voluntarily remove themselves from society, therefore they surrender their civil rights. Arrest them on sight, deport the illegals, 25 to life for the rest. Lawful citizens are sick and tired of gangs and their blight on society.
anotherview wrote on Aug 25, 2007 11:45 AM:Criminal street gangs constitute a social evil debasing neighborhoods and threatening public safety. Hence, a civil injunction limiting the activity of the known members of a criminal street gang will likely restore neighborhoods to their function of social discourse fostering wholesome community life. The news story, however, omits mention of the involvement of ICE immigration enforcement to ferret out criminal aliens who infest criminal street gangs. ICE stands ready to aid local law enforcement in apprehending criminal aliens as well as illegal aliens and fugitive illegal aliens ... America already has enough criminals. Let us hope the county uses the law enforcement services of ICE to target the criminal alien element in the enjoined criminal street gang. The social, economic, and political benefits from this enforcement will flow to the nation to its betterment. By enforcement of the law, America can free itself of criminal aliens and other illegal aliens. America will prosper all the more.
Huh? wrote on Aug 25, 2007 12:18 PM:To ?: What planet are you on? Law enforcement knows what a gang is and who is in it. I say about time they get to do something about it without all the bleeding hearts getting involved. These people are not kids having a little fun. They are animals, actually worse than an animal. Animals destroy and kill to survive.
We need a Statewide Injunction wrote on Aug 25, 2007 1:54 PM:AGAINST ALL Gangs! Get rid of them, lock them up, ...Gangs are of NO Use in a Civilized Society.
The real wrote on Aug 25, 2007 4:25 PM:What you people are not putting into consideration is that an injuction like this, gives the police the right to harass anyone dress or that look a certain way that they find "gang related." By no means am I a gang member, in fact I'm a local business owner, but because I wear blue, and shave my head, due to male pattern baldness, I too can be harassed. You who proudly support this injuction, need to carefully monitor what you teens wear outside, baggy pants, and shirts could constitute "gang clothing"
Greg in Oceanside wrote on Aug 25, 2007 4:44 PM:I applaud Riverside's efforts and hope they continue to forge ahead with every legal tool available to curb the gang problem. It's time to hit them hard with property seizures and other legal means to take the battle to a new level. These gang members 'live' somewhere, and it's likely they have families who are enabling this sort of behavior. So, a strong message needs to be sent to all other 'familias' that their little '...' is going to get them in lots of trouble and get them run out of town. The time is now to say 'no mas' and go get 'em!
700 members sounds like a terrorist cell! wrote on Aug 25, 2007 7:27 PM:Treat them like terrorist. How did the government allow a gang to get so large. How many murders are they responsible for?
Maria wrote on Aug 25, 2007 10:10 PM:It's a sad comment on our society when we require police protection against immature criminals.
Informed wrote on Aug 26, 2007 9:05 AM:We have proven that public shaming websites prevent crime. Gang members need to be placed on the internet so we can all see who they are and so we can protect our children from these monsters. We should know who our kids are associating with. Gang members will just act and dress differently, but they will always be gang members, these people cannot be cured and they are a menace to society. However........... someone above wrote: "voluntarily remove themselves from society, therefore they surrender their civil rights." That is a dangerous sentiment to imply someone surrenders the rights granted them just because they chose not to be part of what someone else labels society. Listing these scumbag death dealers doesn't violate their civil rights, we do it with sex offenders and arsonists, we can do it with anyone. We should be doing it with drunk drivers, who kill more people than gangs do, but one step at a time... if it saves just one child, then its worth it.
Mike wrote on Aug 26, 2007 12:41 PM:The Real...I think the harrassment is worth it!! If your not a gangster,,then let the police do their job and move on with your life. I'm tired of people claiming harrassment..wearing a skirt sounds like an option to me!
esteban wrote on Aug 30, 2007 6:18 PM:Uh oh...how unfair that the gov't infringes on a gang's right to intimidate and harrass the common folk. Where's the ACLU!?!?!?!?
Krazy Think3r wrote on Sep 13, 2007 11:58 AM:THE DA ROD PACHECCO IS NOT A MAN ONE COULD TRUST IN JUST LIKE THE U.S.A GOVERMENT ALWAYS TRYING TO GAIN POWER OVER URBAN NEIGHBORHOODS. IN RIVERSIDE THE EAST SIDE RIVA IS NOT A GANG, IT IS THE NEIGHBORHOOD IN WHICH THE GOVERMENT LABELED IT WITH. GANGS ARE LIKE ROBIN HOOD ALWAYS TAKING FROM THE GREEDY RICH ARE GIVING TO THE ONES IN NEED, SAD TO SAY THOSE GREEDY WHITE AMERICANS HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IT. DID MANY KNOW THAT THE U.S.A HAS A MAFIA OF THERE OWN, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT? KRAZY THINK3R
Riversider wrote on Sep 14, 2007 9:00 PM:Does this injuction include all gangs or just the Mexicans. You can't just go after one ethnic race. There are black gangs and white gangs in Riverside County that are a part of the problem. Did the injunction inlcude them or only target the Mexican? You shouldn't be thrown in jail because you "look" like a gang member.You can't pick and choose if you are going to go after gangs, go after ALL of them.
Actual Reality.. wrote on Dec 5, 2007 11:50 AM:Since when is East side Riva a gang? if u think east side riva is a gang u need to take your head...! the d.a knows nothing about the East side riva other then what he read's in the papers! he should atleast who and know what he's doing an injunction against before he does!
Prison Makes It Worse wrote on Dec 6, 2007 3:46 PM:To all who say lock em up in jail or deport them, that's nothing more than a good way to spread a gang's influence. Yeah, let's send them back to their home country so they can take what they learned and start a branch of their gang there. Yeah, lets sent teenagers and young adults to prison so they can learn from real criminals and come out even better at organized crime than they were when they went in. Zero Tolerance, Iron Fist, whatever you want to call that kind of policy doesn't work, all it does is increase the violence and the tension between gangs and law enforcement and potential recruits. A better solution might be, oh creating better social conditions and an environment where people don't need protection from a gang just to get by.
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