Supervisor Knabe Presents City of Long Beach with $95,000 for Gang Prevention Efforts
LONG BEACH, Calif. (August 30, 2000) — Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe (4th District) presented a $95,000 check to City of Long Beach Prosecutor Tom Reeves, yesterday, in the opening minutes of the August 29 Long Beach City Council meeting. The funding, which was drawn from the Fourth District’s pool of discretionary Local Law Enforcement Block Grant funds, will be used by the City Prosecutor’s office to achieve injunctions against hardened-adult gang members.
“The City of Long Beach needed help with one of its programs to curb violent gang activity,” Knabe said, “and I realized this was a great opportunity for my office to get involved. The war against gang activity has to be waged on all fronts: in our schools, in our streets and in the courthouse.”
In the City of Long Beach, a gang injunction occurs when the City Prosecutor’s office, with approval from a judge, issues a restraining order against specific gang members of a particular gang.
Subsequently, these individuals are prevented from engaging in a host of activities, including loitering in groups, selling drugs, vandalizing property and possessing weapons. Each gang injunction must define a geographic area where these activities are restricted.
According to the Long Beach Police Department, there are 53 different gangs in Long Beach, and an estimated 9,200 gang members.
