NCJ Number
147284
Journal
Criminal Justice Newsletter Volume: 19 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 4, 1988) Pages: 3
Date Published
1988
Length
1 page
Annotation
The novel use of civil proceedings against a Los Angeles drug-dealing gang known as the Playboy Gangster Crips enables the police to arrest gang members for conduct that would not otherwise be criminal.
Abstract
The Los Angeles city attorney's office has won an unusual injunction against gang members, ordering them not to harass or intimidate residents of the gang's territory. Under the injunction, gang members who engage in prohibited activities, including graffiti and blocking driveways and sidewalks, can be held in contempt of court and detained for 5 days. They can also be jailed for up to 6 months under an ordinance that makes it a misdemeanor to violate a court order. Los Angeles prosecutors contend that the gang is an unincorporated association whose members are liable for each other's actions in carrying out the association's purpose (selling drugs) and that the gang is a public nuisance properly dealt with by civil injunction. Although the prohibition against harassing or intimidating residents is broad, the Los Angeles police enforce the prohibition very conservatively.