Plan to Curb Oxnard Gang Is Decried

A plan by prosecutors to battle an Oxnard gang by preventing its members from associating with each other was improperly drawn and should be rejected, defense attorneys said in court papers filed Wednesday.

Their action came in response to a request by the Ventura County district attorney’s office for an injunction against the Colonia Chiques, who are described by police as the county’s largest and most violent street gang.

A hearing on the injunction is set for May 24 before Superior Court Judge Fred H. Bysshe.

If approved, the order would impose sweeping restrictions on hundreds of the gang’s members within a designated “safety zone” that would cover about one-fourth of the city. Violators would face misdemeanor charges for flashing gang signs, wearing Dallas Cowboys clothing, staying out past 10 p.m., and socializing with one another within the restricted area.

Similar injunctions that have been imposed in Los Angeles and other cities have been ruled constitutional by the California Supreme Court.

However, Torrance attorney John H. Hachmeister and Ventura attorney Gabriella Navarro-Busch contend in their filing that the requested order is based on one-sided information from Oxnard police officers. The attorneys are representing unnamed gang members in opposing the injunction.

“The plaintiff relies on 133 supporting declarations from members of the Oxnard Police Department, alleging ‘gang’ control of parks and neighborhoods, yet fails to produce even one declaration from a resident, business owner, or simply a person that frequents or works within the ‘safety zone,’ ” the lawyers said in their filing.

In addition, they contend the injunction is “vastly overbroad” because it is aimed at the gang as a group while failing to identify individual members. The injunction was drawn against “the Colonia Chiques, an Unincorporated Association,” and unnamed members identified only as “Does, 1 through 500.”

If approved, it would give law enforcement “at least 500 cracks at stigmatizing any citizen it desires,” the filing said.

In an interview, Hachmeister said the injunction would give police a free hand at harassment. “My concern is that we sometimes have overzealous peace officers who overstep their bounds. This injunction would allow them to do it.”

Karen L. Wold, a deputy district attorney working on the injunction, disagreed, contending that Oxnard police officers know who should be targeted.

“We know who the gang members are,” she said, “and they know who they are.”

The decision to refrain from naming them was a strategic one, she said. Without identifying specific individuals, the injunction can be applied against future gang members as well as against the 1,000 Colonia Chiques thought to be active, she said.

The “Does, 1 through 500” wording is standard legal terminology meant to designate people yet to be named, she said. Similar wording was used in a number of injunctions successfully requested by the Los Angeles city attorney’s office, which has been advising prosecutors in Ventura County on the issue.

Thirty-six alleged Colonia Chiques have been served with notice that the gang is being sued, Wold said. They, along with hundreds of alleged fellow gang members, will be given notice individually if the injunction is approved.

In Oxnard, the injunction has been supported by residents who complain about living with continual gang threats and an array of everyday crimes, from public urination to car theft. Besides fostering a climate of fear, police said, members of the Chiques were involved in 12 of the city’s 23 homicides last year either as suspects or victims.

But opponents of the injunction contend it will allow police to hassle young Latinos, whether or not they are gang members.

“We’re afraid it’s a blank check that law enforcement can cash in any time they want,” said Francisco Romero, whose Committee on Raza Rights organized a Tuesday news conference denouncing the move.

Romero and others said they were upset that prosecutors and Oxnard police did not meet with community groups to discuss the possibility of a gang injunction before asking a judge to grant one. They also were skeptical it would reduce crime.

However, Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo said Wednesday that the injunction tactic has contributed to a drop in gang crimes there. He said his office has initiated 20 injunctions that apply to about one-fourth of the city’s 40,000 gang members.

“We don’t think of them as a silver bullet,” he said, “but we believe they’re a useful law enforcement tool to curtail gang activity.”

This week, Delgadillo announced that gang crimes in Hollywood had dropped by nearly half in the first four months of 2004.

Injunctions against two gangs contributed to the decrease, he said.

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Times staff writer Holly Wolcott contributed to this report.