A Park for All the People : San Fernando gang crackdown deserves a chance

Score one for community empowerment. The people of San Fernando are reclaiming Las Palmas Park, in the heart of that small city’s Mexican-American barrio, from warring street gangs. They are doing it by using an ordinance that allows police to cite gang members if they even enter the park--citations that carry fines of up to $250.

It’s a direct approach to a specific problem--but that doesn’t mean it’s not controversial. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit to block enforcement of the ordinance, claiming that it violates the gang members’ rights of free assembly. The ACLU is particularly concerned because other cities, such as Pomona, are replicating the San Fernando ordinance. Los Angeles is considering a similar law.

The ACLU’s case against San Fernando deserves a fair court test. But perhaps the ACLU is overreacting to a unique situation. San Fernando is a small city with a police department that, to a great extent, already uses the community policing methods that Los Angeles is barely experimenting with. That means the police know who hard-core gang members are, often by name. Police officers are able to keep an eye on known troublemakers without trampling on the rights of people who are not involved in gang activity. And, don’t forget, San Fernando’s ordinance was not drafted to “solve” its gang problem. It resulted from a specific incident last summer: the shooting of a young mother and her children who got caught in gang cross-fire.

To the extent it was supposed to make a public park safe for public use again, the San Fernando ordinance is a success. So as the ACLU pursues its case in court, San Fernando must be allowed to continue enforcing its anti-gang ordinance. The city’s law-abiding residents--the vast majority--have the right to use Las Palmas Park with a sense of security and safety.