Gang Injunction Working, Police Say

In the five weeks since a Superior Court judge granted an injunction that essentially banned the gang known as “Culver City” from gathering on their home turf between Culver City and Marina del Rey, police have been on guard for retaliation from gang members. And it has come in the crude language of graffiti and gunfire.

At about 1:30 a.m. on July 5, a Los Angeles police cruiser was fired upon in the 4900 block of Slauson Avenue. The week before, a new rash of graffiti, including death threats against police and the deputy district attorney who requested the court order, cropped up on nearly every building in the Mar Vista Gardens housing project, causing about $14,000 in damage. One picture depicted a rooftop sniper firing down onto a police cruiser.

Police believe the graffiti shows that the injunction is intimidating the gang, and that the gunfire is a common gang response to any police crackdown.

“I think there’s tension on the gang members,” said Officer Bryan Lium, who is assigned to LAPD’s gang unit. “I think they’re worried.”

An anti-gang injunction is a court order that bans named individuals from gathering in a targeted area because, historically, they have associated to commit crimes.

In the injunction area, between Venice and Jefferson boulevards, old gang hangouts are now full of children and baby strollers.

On Friday, a Superior Court judge will consider issuing a similar injunction against Culver City’s rival, the Oakwood gang known as the Venice Shoreline Crips. However, instead of using bullets and spray paint, the 38 men named in that lawsuit have hired attorneys. At the recommendation of the Nation of Islam, the Oakwood men also have renounced their gang membership and are raising funds to create their own jobs.