Keep the Gang List Unbiased

Police across Orange County have hailed their list of gang members as an effective tool in cracking down on gangs and contributing to the recent reduction in violent crime in the county. But the question of how people end up on that list needs to be carefully explained by police to convince the public that young people are not being stereotyped because of their race, clothing or friends.

Two months ago, the California Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights held a daylong hearing filled largely with complaints that law enforcement officials in Orange County routinely harassed Latino and Asian youths. Now, the commission’s regional director has said he has “serious questions” about the constitutionality of a local police list of alleged gang members that is more than 90% Asian, Latino and African American. Those groups make up less than 50% of the county’s population.

At the commission’s public hearing, police said they were careful to observe everyone’s rights. They also said most of those in the database admitted to being gang members. In that case, there should be no quarrel with the list, one of the effective tools police require to battle gangs. Nor is racial imbalance by itself proof that the list is unconstitutional.

Still, the concerns of critics have been heightened by Gov. Pete Wilson’s announcement earlier this year that the state Department of Justice will establish a statewide database of gang members, probably to start operating next year.

Law enforcement officials would do well to review periodically their methods in fighting gangs to ensure they are not singling people out because of ethnicity or race. Police need the cooperation of the communities they protect. They can gain that assistance if residents see the law enforced evenhandedly.