Oceanside police pursue two more gang injunctions

JO MORELAND
Staff Writer

OCEANSIDE —- Law enforcement officials are preparing two new gang injunctions to counter a surge in violent crime and gang activity in Oceanside.Authorities declined to say this week which gangs are being targeted because they didn’t want them tipped off.

“The two new injunctions are in response to the increase in violent crime,” said Deputy District Attorney Susan Mazza.

Oceanside police got the first gang injunction in San Diego County five years ago against the Varrio Posole Locos in Eastside. In 1999, the court granted an injunction against the Varrio Mesa Locos in Mesa Margarita.

Officials said the injunctions successfully decreased violent crime and gang activity temporarily in those neighborhoods, but that more action is needed now.

Violent crime has increased and gang members who were sent to prison in 1996 and 1997 are back on the streets influencing younger people to commit crimes, authorities said.

Crime in the two gang injunction areas isn’t all gang-related, but some of it is and that is causing concern at the Oceanside Police Department, said Sgt. Joe Young.

Violent crimes, such as drive-by shootings, haven’t reached the level of the mid-1990s, he said, but there are more street robberies for things such as bicycles and food. That is the type of crime that gang members do, said Young.

Police determine whether a crime is gang-related by what is said during the crime, clothing worn by the suspects, the number of suspects, and other factors.

“We don’t have really good (gang crime) statistics,” Mazza said. “We hear from the people in the neighborhood that the gangs are getting more active, that the younger kids are growing up and acting up. I think you’ve got kids that grew up seeing the gangs in their heyday.”

Police statistics weren’t available yet for this year, but violent crimes dropped sharply for several years in the Eastside and Mesa Margarita areas after the first two gang injunctions.

However, last year violent crimes in those neighborhoods rose to almost the same levels as before the injunctions.

Police logged 82 murders, rapes, armed robberies, strongarm robberies and aggravated assaults for the Eastside in 1996, the year before the Posole injunction. Last year there were 80 violent crimes.

The Varrio Mesa Locos injunction was granted in August 1999. Police received 68 violent crime reports that year in the Mesa Margarita area. There were 67 in 2001.

Injunctions don’t completely solve gang crime, because there isn’t any “silver bullet” to stop it, Mazza said.

“You just have to work on all aspects of the problem,” she said. “It’s the poverty, it’s the drugs, it’s the broken down family relationships.”

Young said police are taking action in addition to the injunctions, including working more closely with the Jurisdictions United against Drugs and Gangs Enforcement unit and the North County Gang Task Force.

For the last six months, the sergeant said, the county Adult Probation and the Juvenile Gang Suppression Unit have been making more gang sweeps in the city to be sure gang members are complying with probation conditions.

However, the injunctions have been a key tool to quell gangs and more of the court orders are being pursued, Young said. The injunctions have withstood most legal challenges so far.

Opponents of gang injunctions, including the American Civil Liberties Union, contend the court orders violate civil rights and the people who are targeted can’t do much to resist the restrictions imposed on their activities.

Candace Carroll, a volunteer ACLU attorney who freed one man from the Posole injunction, said the injunctions are politically popular and easy to get.

“It’s like shooting fish in a barrel for the District Attorney’s office,” Carroll said.

Police Chief Michael Poehlman said the injunctions have proved their value in the community.

“I brought the first injunctions here, and my direction is these are a priority,” Poehlman said.

Young said it takes about a year to get a gang injunction because of the evidence required. Any court appeal extends that time limit.

Police are gathering intelligence now for the next Oceanside injunctions, including arrest reports, crime reports, field interview cards, parole and probation reports and traffic tickets, Young said.

He said the most sensitive part —- getting residents to sign declarations about gang activity —- is done after everything else is ready.

“There’s only two (deputy) district attorneys assigned to (gang injunctions) and there are other cities trying to get these things,” he said. “We try to time it so the district attorney is ready for us.”

Contact staff writer Jo Moreland at (760) 901-4085 or jmoreland@nctimes.com.

12/8/02