Judge Bars 3 Gangs Around South L.A. Park
Seeking to restrict the activities of three South Los Angeles gangs, city officials Monday announced the establishment of a 7 1/2-square-mile “safety zone” that bars gang members from assembling within its boundaries.
The 42nd, 43rd and 48th Street Gangster Crips used Gilbert Lindsay Park in the 4200 block of Avalon Boulevard as a “personnel department” to pick up crews to rob banks across the region and the country, said City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo, who joined Mayor James K. Hahn at a news conference at the park.
“This park has been anything but a playground,” Delgadillo said. “This is ground zero for the Crips.”
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Yaffe granted a preliminary injunction Jan. 18 establishing the safety zone bounded by Washington Boulevard on the north, Florence Avenue on the south, Alameda Street on the east and the Harbor Freeway on the west.
Gang members are prohibited from associating with one another within the safety zone. Violators face misdemeanor charges that could bring six months in jail.
Members of the three street gangs have been responsible for four homicides in the last year, said Capt. Sean Kane of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Newton Division.
Despite the protests of some activists, authorities have successfully sought 23 gang injunctions throughout Los Angeles.
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