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A controversial court injunction may have reduced violent crime in the San Fernando Valley's Blythe Street neighborhood but contributed to its spread into nearby communities, according to a report released Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.
Gang injunctions do not mitigate crime and therefore should be abandoned as a tactic, according to the 45-page report, "False Premise, False Promise: The Blythe Street Gang Injunction and Its Aftermath."
But the report received a chilly reception from law enforcement authorities, including Assistant City Atty. Martin Vranicar Jr., the city's top gang prosecutor, who noted that the ACLU unsuccessfully challenged the Blythe Street injunction in court. He questioned the organization's motives in preparing the report and said he believes it is part of a campaign to deter his office from proceeding with a court injunction against the notorious 18th Street gang.
"I disagree with the report's conclusion," Vranicar said. "I continue to think the injunction is a valuable law enforcement tool that targets gang nuisance activity." Since their inception a decade ago--when Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn obtained a broad court order against a Westside gang--court injunctions have been credited with helping restore a sense of security to gang-plagued neighborhoods in the Valley, Pasadena, Norwalk and Burbank.
The injunctions work by criminalizing ordinarily legal behavior such as possessing beepers or standing on rooftops--acts that law enforcement officers contend are often precursors to crime. Gang members could...