What of the Innocent Snagged in ‘Sweeps’? : The Price of Freedom From Gangs Shouldn’t Be All Freedoms

When “The Hammer” (as Police Chief Daryl F. Gates dubbed the recent anti-gang sweeps) fell in South-Central Los Angeles, I began to wrestle with a dilemma. How should I, as a civil-libertarian, respond to police tactics that include arresting young black and brown people because they “look like” gang members? On the other hand, how should I, as a black family man living in South-Central Los Angeles, respond to the reign of terror that gangs have unleashed on my community?

This reign of terror is so complete that that while inside my home I can regularly hear gunshots outside, even though the police station is less than a mile from my door. It is a reign so horrifying that I will not even sit out on my front porch at night for fear of being struck by a random bullet; a reign so senseless that I am now afraid to take my oldest daughter to the park where we flew her kite in January because since then another child was shot as she played in that very park; a reign so all-encompassing that I worry for the safety of my mother, my grandfather and my grandmother because they live in areas where dealers openly sell crack cocaine.

Like all law-abiding citizens of South-Central Los Angeles, I want to live a peaceful life, one where I can enjoy the company of my neighbors without looking over my shoulder. I want the majority of black teen-agers, who are also law-abiding, to be able to enjoy their adolescence as I did, without worrying that they may be shot if they attempt to use the wrong pay phone at school. I want to see something done about the random violence, and the rampant drug dealing which accompanies the gangs wherever they go.

And yet, as a civil-libertarian, I understand that times of strife, unrest and fear pose the greatest danger to our civil liberties, because people are often willing to give up their personal freedom in exchange for security--particularly in the face of a terrifying enemy for whom traditional deterrence does not seem to work.

I faced a dilemma when “The Hammer” first fell--how to reconcile my desire to see gang violence eliminated with my concerns for individual freedom. But as I began to read about some recent developments in the war against gangs and as I recalled my own life experience, I realized that I really do not face a dilemma--at least not yet.

As a teen-ager I wore my hair in a “natural,” which drew unwarranted attention and actual harassment from LAPD officers. I now know that allowing police to act on the basis of appearance is giving them a standard so elastic as to be prone to abuse.

I remembered that again recently when I read about problems that some black and brown youngsters have had gaining admission to Magic Mountain, where a gang-related incident took place two years ago.

And in another case of “walks like duck, talks like a duck” judgment, news reports indicate that of the 1,453 people arrested by LAPD during the big sweep weekend in early April, just a little more than half, or 794, were suspected gang members.

So, the more I thought about it, the more I was ashamed that I even had to pause to decide where I stand on this issue. Yes, I want the police to arrest gang members when they commit crimes. Yes, I want to be able to walk my dogs at night, to take my children to the park, to go and see a controversial movie, without worrying about being caught in a lethal gang-related cross fire. Yes, an increased police presence in my community will provide some temporary relief from these problems. (That’s something some of us have been demanding for years, through the police-deployment issue.)

But, no, I do not want to see “The Hammer” fall if the tactics employed include the indiscriminate detention and railroaded arrest of black youngsters because they look like gang members, or because they happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“The Hammer” is an illusory quick fix for the symptoms of a deeper societal problem: the existence of people who have nothing to lose, no sense of self and no care for others, and who have easy access to guns and drugs. “The Hammer” will not make people say no to drugs so long as they feel better about their lives when they are high than they do when they are sober. “The Hammer” will not address the failure of our schools to educate those who have difficulty learning. And “The Hammer” will not cure the illness of our society which allows some youngsters to be locked out of our economic system, so that they have nothing to lose and no reason to care.

So, now, I really do not face a dilemma. I believe that law enforcement must take effective, constitutional steps to control gang violence and incarcerate those who deal death on our streets. And I also believe that if we really want to solve the gang problem and rescue our young people from the clutches of gang violence, we must focus time, energy and money on breaking the cycle of poverty and despair that is at the root of the terror in our neighborhoods.