ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Tempting--but Wrong

What does a city do when it is at its wits’ end in the battle against drugs or gangs? For one thing, it looks for new enforcement tools.

Anaheim is doing that now in an effort to rid its city parks of drug dealers. But the aims of law enforcement must square with constitutional rights.

A proposed ordinance would ban convicted drug offenders from the parks. Violations would be misdemeanors carrying sentences of six months in jail and fines of $1,000. In answering critics of this ordinance, City Atty. Jack L. White has gone right for the hot button, saying they “place the interests of drug offenders above the child and families who want to lawfully use the park.” Strong words.

Most people agree that there is way too much drug activity in the city’s 40 public parks and want the parks to remain open to the law-abiding. However, the proposed cure--although well-intended--is constitutionally flawed. It should not be a crime for someone to show up on public property.

The problem in the ordinance is similar to that raised by the efforts of some other municipalities to prevent alleged gang members from gathering on the street: It poses an issue of presumptive guilt.

If lack of police officers is the motivation for the proposal, this ordinance isn’t likely to help in that area. The city must find another way, one that doesn’t have such potential for error or misapplication.