Politics & Government
L.A. County Court Grants Permanent Injunction Against Local Gangs
Known gang members will be prohibited from socializing in public.
By City News Service
A Los Angeles County court has granted a permanent injunction against six gangs in Echo Park and its surrounding neighborhoods.
The injunction seeks to prohibit known members of the Big Top Locos, Crazys, Diamond Street Locos, Echo Park Locos, Frogtown and Head Hunters street gangs from associating with each other in public, possessing firearms or narcotics, or possessing alcohol in public, officials in the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office told the Los Angeles Times.
"We've got to be tough on violent gang activity, and gang injunctions such as this one … are an important step," City Attorney Mike Feuer said in a statement.
City lawyers filed the Echo Park injunction in June. It creates a 3.8- square-mile "safety zone" in Echo Park, Elysian Valley, Historic Filipinotown and portions of Silver Lake, according to court documents. The injunction also includes Echo Park Lake and Dodger Stadium; it is bound by the Los Angeles River to the north, the 110 Freeway to the east, First Street to the south and North Coronado Street to the west.
The gangs named in the injunction have fought for years, according to the city attorney's office. The feuding has led to graffiti vandalism, aggravated assaults, shootings, attempted murders and murders, according to court documents cited by The Times.
The injunction can be enforced only against active gang members after they are personally served with the signed court order. It was opposed by many Echo Park residents who said it was coming at a time when crime rates are down and that it is too difficult for former gang members to be removed from an injunction list even if they stay out of trouble, The Times reported.
