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Btryig th

M City:How Gang InjunctionsFail Oakland

Critical Resistance Oakland

February 2011


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TaBle of ConTenTs

acwgmtThis report would not have been possible without the Stop the Injunctions Coalition (STIC) in Oakland,including every individual and organization who has worked with STIC. We would also like to thankeveryone who has resisted Gang Injunctions in Oakland and elsewhere, and everyone who has investetime, resources, work, and thought into developing and implementing solutions to harm and violence tare participatory, functional, and relevant. Special thanks goes to Jason Ziedenberg.

Research by Lisa Marie Alatorre and Jayden DonahueDesign and Graphics by Ari RosenbaumWritten by Isaac Lev Szmonko and Zaylia Pluss

Edited by Critical Resistance Oakland

abt Critic RitcCritical Resistance seeks to build an international movement to end the Prison Industrial Complex (PICchallenging the belief that caging and controlling people makes us safe. We believe that basic necessitsuch as food, shelter, and freedom are what really make our communities secure. As such, our work is

part of global struggles against inequality and powerlessness. The success of the movement requiresthat it reect communities most affected by the PIC. Because we seek to abolish the PIC, we cannotsupport any work that extends its life or scope. Contact us:

1904 Franklin Street, Suite 504Oakland, CA 94612Phone: 510.444.0484Fax: 510.444.2177

www.criticalresistance.org

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In February 2009, Oakland City Attorney John Russo went public with plans to le ganginjunctions throughout the city. More than a year later, with one injunction temporarily in placeanother proposed, and the threat of up to 11 more to follow, there is widespread and rapidlymounting opposition to the injunctions citywide.

We oppose gang injunctions because they are ineffective,costly, and harmful to our communities.

Our ndings conclude that civil gang injunctions arean inappropriate method for addressing violence in ourcommunities. Injunctions lead to increased police harassmand brutality, decreased community unity, increasedalienation and racial proling, and gentrication. They alsodivert a tremendous amount of resources from vital prograthat could build strong, stable and healthy communities.

There are many viable alternatives to gang injunctions thatwill reduce violence and help build up, rather than tearapart our communities. They include after-school programand youth centers, alternative ways of dealing with harm,

job training and placement programs, drug and alcoholtreatment, counseling services, affordable housing, and reentry support and services for people coming home fromprison.

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Gang injunctions are a rapidly proliferating police tool even though they have not been proveneffective. The rst gang injunction was led in Los Angeles in 1987 i, and since there have beenover 60 gang injunctions led in CAii.The constitutionality of gang injunctions is still beingcontested.iii

A gang injunction is a civil suit led against a group of people considered a public nuisance,prohibiting them from participating in certain activities, usually including:

Appearing in public with anyone police have labelled a gang member (including thnot named in injunction). Exceptions are supposed to be made for church, school awork.

Being outside between 10pm 5am curfew, exceptions same as above.

Loitering

Possessing grafti paraphernalia including felt tip markers.

Possessing or being in the presence of anyone possessing rearms, drugs, or drugparaphernalia including rolling papers.

Wearing colors that police associate with the street organization in question.

Because an injunction is a civil suit, defendants are not entitled to a free attorney, and standard

of evidence are lower than in criminal court.

Wht r Gg Icti?

The need to bring morefunding into the community islong overdue, and desperately

needed. Our children are failingat life, because we as a society

and government are failingthem . . . Money spent to le

and enforce this injunctioncould be spent much more

effectively on prevention andother community interventions

. . . we need to address thedisparities in our social,

economic and educationalarenas.

Margaret White, LongtimeNorth Oakland Community

Member


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The North Oakland gang injunction was put into place temporarily on June 2, 2010. Theinjunction named 15 African American young men and created a 100-block safety zone whethey could not conduct the activities named above.iv

The second proposed injunction would create a safety zone of roughly two square miles inEast Oakland, and names 40 alleged Norteos.v At the time of the release of this report, theinjunction has not yet been put in place, mainly due to opposition from community members aorganizations. Each defendant is required to pay close to $1,000 to appear in court.vi The City

Attorney has also tried to disqualify laywers who are representing defendants.vii

GanG InjunCTIonsIn oakland

Police and media reports of injunctions improving safety are seldom backed by signicantevidence. Maxson and Allen found, for instance, little support for a positive effect with regard

to an injunction in Inglewood, CA that has been held up as a success.viii The ACLU similarly fothat an injunction in San Fernando Valley that had been celebrated for making communities saactually had the opposite effect.ix

o City attry R Pic Chi Btt hv rpty tt tht ictir hitricy ctiv tht th icti i nrth o h b ctiv ircig vic. Hwvr, i nrth o, htig iig b cmprth prvi yr i th rt 6 mth th icti.x

Named individuals experience alienation, and often, their efforts to gain/maintain employmentand support family become impossible, especially since injunctions show up on background

checks. This type of social and economic isolation is more likely to cause, rather than reduceviolence. Some defendants in East Oakland have even reported becoming the targets of violenafter being publicly named on the injunction list.xi

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Accurate information on the total costs of gang injunctions in Oakland and elsewhere is nearlyimpossible to nd. Original estimates for legal fees for the North Oakland injunction were$430,000. Gang injunction costs include, but are not limited to:

Legalfeesforstafftime,printing,ling,courtdates,andcountersuitsthatareinevita

ledbecauseinjunctionsalwaysinfringeondefendantscivilrights.

As of 12/10/2010, the Oakland City Attorneys ofce had spent at least 1,930 stahours on the two injunctions.

City Attorney John Russo makes $207,000 per year The city has spent at least $70,240 on outside legal feesxii

In West Sacramento, lawyers estimated the legal expenses for ghting an injunctover two years at over $1 million.xiii If the East Oakland injunction is passed, it wilikely be contested in court.

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PoliceDepartmentstafftimespentwritingdeclarations,appearingincourt,training,

andenforcinginjunctions.

There are no publicly available numbers on how much police labor has gone intogang injunctions in Oakland

The current entry level salary for an Oakland Police Ofcer is $71,841 to $90,549 Once injunctions are made permanent, they are enforced indenitely

Stafftimeandresourcesspentonpropagandaandmediapromotinginjunctions.

Russo has stated that he will seek to le 5 t 11 mr icti i o.xv If defendanteach injunction miraculously nd counsel in time to try their case, this could mean another$11 mii i g xp.

Whr i th My Cmig frm?The City Attorneys ofce has stated that the use of injunctions in Oakland is not motivated bythe receipt of federal or state funding. However, OPD has received funds for its gang suppresstactics in the past. Many municipalities pushing gang injunctions have received federal and stafunding for their efforts. More importantly, it is clear that despite Oaklands serious nancial crRusso and the OPD are spending taxpayers money on ineffective and damaging solutions toviolence that have not been approved by the City Council let alone the people of Oakland.


Police and City Attorney45%

$236,192,830

Public Works21%

$110,263,430

CommunityDevelopment

15%$82,713,220

Human Servic10%

$50,891,330

Parks andRecreation

4%$20,442,990

Library4%

$23,859,020

Museum1%

$6,675,410

Whr th My i Gig - o 2011 Bgt


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Gang injunction enforcement depends on visual identication of alleged gang membersperforming activities that are otherwise legal. This gives the Oakland policewho producedthe Riders and are under ongoing federal supervision for serious misconduct allegationsanincredible amount of discretion. Gang injunctions lead to increased harassment of people wht the description of anyone on the list, namely Black and Latino youth who already havestrained relations with police.

Lawyers, scholars, researchers, community members andorganizations have all attested that the process by whichpeople are named in injunctions and how they are enforceis based on and promotes racial proling, namely of Africa

American and Latino young men.xx As the ACLU points outcops label people gang members based on things like hthey dress and who they know.xxi Many people on both ofOaklands injunction lists have never associated themselvewith any gang.xxii

Increased police presence enforcing injunctionshas led communities to feel uncomfortable intheir neighborhoods, and to notice increasedpolice harassment and racial proling.xxv

Although Oaklands injunctions only legallytarget named defendants, police ofcers havestopped youth not named in the injunction in North Oakland, asking them if they are on the listResidents of Summit Ave. in LA similarly reported police stopping and searching almost everywhen an injunction was issued there.xxvii

In East Oakland, numerous defendants reported that police violently searched their homes whthey were served with the injunction, despite this being a civil case.xxviii

Gang injunctions sustain white supremacy by not only criminalizing youth of color, but alsostigmatizing entire communities.xxix When young men of color are disproportionately identiedas gang members, the consequences are felt by family, friends, and community members.

Interestingly, whites make up a signicant share of actual gang membership, but are rarelyidentied as gang members by police.xxx The LA districtattorneys ofce found that close to half of black malesbetween the ages of 21 and 24 had been entered in thecountys gang database even though no one could crediblargue that all of these young men were current gangmembers.xxxi

Gg Icti Icr Pic Hrmt Miti Whit sprmcy

Gang injunctions lead toincreased harrassmentof people who t the

description of anyone on thelist, namely Black and Latino

youth who already havestrained relations with police.

In LA County, one ofcer descriinjunctions as a measure thatseverely restricts [the] movemeof citizens like martial lawxxiii

A police ofcer in Oxnardlikened his department

enforcing an injunction to aninvading army.xxiv



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In the long-term, gang injunctions often usher in a wave of gentrication. Mesha Monge-Irizarry

director of the Idriss Stelley Foundation, points out: Its important to look at the socio-economprole of gang injunctions nationwide. They are only applied in poor neighborhoods of color inmetropolitan areas that are targeted for gentrication. ACLU attorney Juniper Lesnik furtherstates, Injunctions do not exist in the most violent neighborhoods, which is where you wouldexpect them, but they exist in neighborhoods that border white or gentrifying neighborhoods .

It makes it look as if the governmis taking action to make thoseneighborhoods safer, which givespeople more condence about livnearby.xxxiii

Redevelopment, also sometimescalled urban revitalization, forcdisplaces poor and working classpopulations and turns over theirland to wealthy redevelopers forfree or for a below-market-valueprice. Redevelopment is a tool usby cities as part of the process ogentrication.

Gg Icti r T Gtrictixxxii

Gang injunctions reduce community cohesion and stability, often resulting in increased violencIn LA County, one community experienced increased violence and felt that they could not solvtheir problems as a community.xxxiv

Residents in North Oakland felt that the injunction would negatively impact communityrelationships, when they need to be strengthened. Margaret White, longtime community membin North Oakland, states: This gang injunction will only serve to further polarize the communitand exacerbate existing racial conicts between community members, neighbors, and the

Oakland Police.xxxv

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This map shows the location ofOaklands redevelopment project areas relationship to the general location of thtemporary North Oakland gang injunctioand the proposed Fruitvale ganginjunction. Oaklands redevelopmentzones are located solely in areas of thecity that are either populated largely byworking class people of color or formerindustrial sites. (Taken from http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/CEDA/o/Redevelopment/index.htm)


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alTeRnaTIVes ToGanG InjunCTIons

In 2010, the Justice Policy Institute published a study on the relationship between poverty &incarceration, which had the following ndings:

State spending patterns indicate a priority oflaw enforcement and incarceration over vitalpublic programs and support services.

Youth of color are disproportionatelyimpacted by the justice system.

Stable housing is one of the most signicantfactors affecting the risk of involvement inthe justice system.

Investing in appropriate mental health

and substance abuse treatment canimprove public safety and reduce justiceinvolvement.

Investments in education can reduceincarceration rates, improve public safetyand promote community well-being.

Providing job training and opportunitiesfor both youth and adults is an effectivestrategy both for increasing public safetyand strengthening

communities.

Youth who participate inafter-school activities areless likely to engage incertain risky behaviors andare more likely to havehigher levels of academicachievement and self-esteem than youth who donot.xxxvii

We conclude that there aremany viable alternatives to ganginjunctions that will reduce violenceand help build stronger, morestable, and healthier communitiesin Oakland. Any real solutions willcome from inclusive, representativecommunity feedback and decision-making processes.

The biggest thparticipants in all pha

of the research have agron is that, in neighborho

and schools where gainvolvement is a real issue

can generally be linked tlack of engaging alternati

and meaningful opportunitfor success in pro-soc

settings. Recreationsports, and cultu

programming, academirelated programs, a

employment opportuniare insufciently suppor

or lacking altogeth

Latino Men and BOakland Project Fi

Report


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alTeRnaTIVes ToGanG InjunCTIons

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Young people in Oakland have few spaces tocongregate with their peers or receive mentorshiprom their elders. We need more community-un spaces where youth can come together on

neutral ground and feel supported to learn, create,

play and develop as community leaders. Localexamples include Homies Empowerment Program,a project of the Eastlake YMCA, and SMAAC YouthCenter.

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Many people participate in criminalized streeteconomies to contribute income to their familiesand meet their basic needs. We need training

programs that prepare people for job applicationsand meaningful work; help them nd stable, well-paying employment; and build community. Oneexample of a community organization that providesraining and builds community is Homeboyndustries in Los Angeles.

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Over half of people in prisons and jails reportmental illness of some kind, compared to 25percent of the general population. And people whocannot access drug treatment in the communityare more likely to be arrested on a drug-relatedoffense. People entering prison have higher ratesof chronic health, substance abuse, and mentalhealth problems than the general population.xxxviii

We need to support peoples physical well-being

as well as their ability to deal with trauma and otmental health issues through affordable, accessihealthcare and counseling. We need drug andalcohol treatment programs that work with peopto help them reduce the negative impacts of theuse and/or stop using substances. One localexample is the Harm Reduction Therapy Center.

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Policing and imprisonment are violent practices break up families and destabilize communities. Wneed to use and continue to develop responses harm that help people ourish and learn withoutpunishment and separation from their families ancommunities. Local examples include CreativeInterventions and Generation Five.

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Gentrication destabilizes communities,neighborhoods, and families by pushing poorand working class people out of their homes. Wneed more well-maintained affordable housingwith community programming, open space andsignicant tenant input in decision-making. Onelocal example is the Alameda Point Collaborative

R-try pprt rvicr pp cmig hm

rm priPeople with conviction records face tremendousbarriers to successful reintegration. Aside frommaking sure all of the above are accessible topeople coming home, we must also provideeducation opportunities and end discriminationagainst formerly imprisoned people in jobs,housing, and welfare. One example of a localorganization that works extensively on this issue

All of Us or None.


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ACLU Foundation of Southern CA, FalsePremise:TheBlythStreetGangInjunctionanditsAftermath, (May 1997) http://www.streetgangs.com/injunctions/topics/blythereport.pdf (accessed Jan 21, 2010).Ali Winston, San Franciscos Gang Injunctions, Four Years On, KALWNews (Jan 20, 2011) http://informant.kalwnews.org/2011/01/san-franciscos-gang-injunctions-four-years-on/ (accessed Jan 24, 2011).

i Allison Davis, City of Oakland Petitions for Gang Injunction,OaklandNorth (Feb 21, 2010) http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:AbxOtkZd4MUJ:oaklandnorth.net/2010/02/21/city-of-oakland-petitions-for-gang-injunction/+oakland+gang+injunction+1994&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us (accessed Jan 26, 2010).

v [Proposed] Order Granting Preliminary Injunction Against NorthSide Oakland Criminal Street Gang. , John A. Russo et. al. Case No.RG10498901 (Superior Court of CA led on May 27, 2010). http://www.oaklandcityattorney.org/PDFS/NSO%20proposed%20order%205%2026%2010.pdf[Proposed] Order Granting Preliminary Injunction Against NortenosGang, John Russo et. al Case No. RG 10541141 (Superior Courtof CA, led on Dec 17, 2010). http://www.oaklandcityattorney.org/PDFS/People%20v.%20Nortenos%20%20 Proposed%20Order%20Granting%20PI%2012%2001%2010.PDF (accessed Jan 26, 2010).

i Public testimony at Oakland City Council Public Safety CommitteeMeeting (Jan 11, 2009).

ii Erik K. Arnold, Oakland Gang Injunction Hearing Fails to DisqualifyDefense Attorneys, Judge to Rule Feb 3, Oaklandlocal.com (Jan 7,2010). http://oaklandlocal.com/article/oakland-gang-injunction-hearing-fails-disqualify-defense-attorneys-judge-rule-feb-3 (accessed Jan 26,2010).

iii Judith Greene and Kevin Pranis,GangWars:TheFailureofEnforcementTacticsandtheNeedforEffectivePublicSafetyStrategies, Justice PolicyInstitute (July 2007),77. Maxson, Hennigan, Sloane, and Kolnick.

x ACLU Foundation of Southern CA, 78.Shoshana Walter, Shootings Double in Gang Safety Zone, TheBayCitizen (Nov 13, 2010), http://www.baycitizen.org/gang-injunction/story/shootings-double-gang-safety-zone/ (accessed Jan 23, 2011).

i Public testimony at Oakland City Council Public Safety CommitteeMeeting (Jan 11, 2009).

ii Rosemarie Sanchez, Email to John Russo and Nancy Nadel (Dec 10,2010 9:45am).

iii Mark Merin, email to Jose Luis Fuentes and Kari Kalista (Oct 27, 2010,5:08 pm).

iv http://www.opdjobs.com/salaries-and-benets.asp (accessed Feb 2,2010).

v Cecilia Vega, Judge Intends to Issue Gang Injunction for Oakland,KGO-TVSanFrancisco(May 27, 2010), http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=7465241 (accessed Jan 23,2010).

vi City of Oakland, FY2009-2011AdoptedPolicyBudget(Dec, 2009),http://www2.oaklandnet.com/ oakca/groups/cityadministrator/documents/report/dowd005672.pdf (accessed Jan 23, 2011).

vii Brigitte Marshal, Letter to Concerned Community Partner (June 8,2010) http://publicportal.ousd.k12.ca.us/199410611103119467/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=57394 (accessed Jan24, 2010).

viii Mineko Brand, Funding Cut for Programs that Give Aid to Former

Women Prisoners TheBayCitizen (Dec 27, 2010) http://www.bayciorg/crime/story/funding-cut-programs-give-aid-former/ (accessed J24, 2010).

xix Sanjiv Handa, Budget deal slashes libraries, police academies, joand falls $11.7M short Oaklandseen.com (June 22, 2010) http://wwoaklandseen.com/2010/06/22/budget-deal-slashes-libraries-police-academies-jobs-%E2%80%94-and-falls-11-7m-short/ (accessed Ja24, 2010).

xx For a literature review, see Victoria Ramirez, TheEffectivenessofImplementingGangInjunctionsinLatinoCommunitiesFaculty AdvisDr. Ana Rosas, UC Irvine (June 11, 2010), 9.

xxi ACLU of Northern CA, Gang Injunctions Fact Sheet, http://www.aclunc.org/issues/criminal_justice/gang_injunctions_fact_sheet.shtm(accessed Jan 23, 2010).

xxii Public testimony at Oakland City Council Public Safety CommitteeMeeting (Jan 11, 2009).

xxiii Greene and Pranis, 77.xxiv Frank P Barajas, An Invading Army: A Civil Gang Injunction in A

Southern California Chicana/O Community, LatinoStudies (2007)5, 393417, http://www.palgrave-journals.com/lst/journal/v5/n4/full/8600280a.html (accessed Jan 23,2011).

xxv Daniel J. Sharfstein, Gangbusters Enjoining the boys in the hoTheAmericanProspectno. 32 (May-June 1997); ACLU of Northern C

xxvi Reports of this come from conversations with youth in North Oakwho choose to remain anonymous due to fear of police retaliation.

xxvii Sharfstein.xxviii Public testimony at Oakland City Council Public Safety Committ

Meeting (Jan 11, 2009).xxix Gary Stewart, Black Codes and Broken Windows: The Legacy o

Racial Hegemony in Anti-Gang Civil Injunctions, TheYaleLawJourCompany,Inc., (107, 7), 2249-2279.

xxx ACLU of Northern CA.xxxi Greene and Pranis, 6.xxxii Gentrication denotes the socio-economic and cultural changes

an area resulting from wealthier people buying housing property in aless prosperous community, resulting in the eviction of the lower-incresidents because of increased rents, house prices, property taxes areduced access to affordable goods and services as businesses catto more afuent residents move in to that area. Gentrication is usuafacilitated by city planning for redevelopment and is accompaniedincreased policing.

xxxiii Chris Brizzard, News Report, SanFranciscoBayView (Jul 16,2007) http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?artid=6118e0b109eeb97cc9a28013c561e892 (accessed Jan 24, 2010)

xxxiv Chery Maxson, Karen Hennigan, David Sloane, Kathy A. KolnickCivilGangInjunctionsChangeCommunities?ACommunityAssessmoftheImpactofCivilGangInjunctions (Dept of Justice, 2005), 41.

xxxv Brief of Amicus Curiae, Carol Strickman, Case No. RG10498901(Superior Court of CA led Oct 14, 2010).

xxxvi Paul Flores, Latino Men and Boys Oakland Project, Final ReportCause Data Collective, The Unity Council of Oakland (Sept, 2010), 2

xxxvii Sarah Lyons and Nastassia Walsh,MoneyWellSpent:Howpossocialinvestmentswillreduceincarcerationrates,improvepublicsafandpromotethewell-beingofcommunities, Justice Policy Institute(Sept, 2010).

xxxviii Lyons and Walsh, 2.

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