Like many cities throughout the United States, Santa Barbara, California, is gripped by gang warfare — at least according to the city’s law enforcement community.
Alleging that there have been 17 gang-related homicides within the borders of the university city, the city’s law enforcement community argues that gang violence has the potential to escalate, citing the possible link between the city’s gangs and the Mexican Mafia — a prison-based criminal syndicate known for drugs and weapons trafficking also known as La Eme.
To prevent this possible explosion of “gangsterism” in the city’s center, the offices of the city attorney and county district attorney and the city council are currently seeking an injunction against the city’s gang members, which the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California has called a blatant attack on the freedoms of individuals who may not have committed any crime.
The proposed injunction would make it illegal for the 30 named individuals to associate with each other or engage in a list of activities and behaviors within specified safety zones that cover nearly a third of the city. Some of the prohibited actions include sitting or standing with a gang member, wearing gang attire, and flashing gang signs.
Of the 30 named individuals, 14 are in jail or have criminal records. The others reportedly have jobs and families but were named because they fit into a profile. Three of them have recently been taken off the list.
According to Santa Barbara Police Chief Cam Sanchez, the injunction is needed because the police department can no longer afford to allocate additional resources to its detective bureau. The police department estimates that $641,866 went toward staff time for gang-related investigations since June 2009, including $235,000 spent on investigating the 2010 gangland murder of George Ied, who was beaten to death while walking home from the liquor store he owned.
The injunction is meant to keep perceived likely gang members from being able to recruit or engage in gang activity in the city’s most gang-active areas, according to Sanchez.
“This has unnecessary effect on our reputation to the world,” said Santa Barbara Councilmember Gregg Hart, who voted to drop the injunction, which was first introduced in March 2011. “Santa Barbara has always had an international reputation. People look at us to be the leader in many ways, I think it would be good if we were a leader in positive intervention for youth in ways to bring the community together rather than this path.”
“We’re assuming that defendants are going to do something wrong in the future,” said Cathy Murillo, another council member who voted against the injunction. “I can’t imagine a bigger violation of peoples’ civil rights.”
The injunction passed, despite these objections.
Controversial profiling tactics
Objection to the injunction lies in the way Santa Barbara defines an “active gang member.” Many of the individuals listed in the injunction’s enumeration were included because they have been seen with tattoos, wearing gang clothing or displaying gang signs in a manner similar to the city’s Eastside and Westside gangs.
Based on the 450-page deposition written by Santa Barbara police Detective Gary Siegel — which forms the sole basis of the injunction — identification of the enumerated and other potential targets is based on a standing profile that can be used to categorize any number of Latinos or blacks.
According to Siegel’s analysis, as described by OpEd News, “membership in gang culture can be determined by such commonplace behaviors as speaking Spanish and talking on cell phones. The appearance of tattoos — specifically those of Aztec and Mayan origin — and the wearing of ‘gang clothing,’ described as being such things as 805 attire or professional sports clothing — also, signify definitive evidence of gang affiliation.”
This standing profile is based on superficial observations that do not necessarily suggest criminality — which is why it can be seen as unfairly targeting communities that embrace prison styles and mannerisms. As police do not regularly refer to the list of those targeted, the standing profile can be used as justification to target non-gang members, especially considering that new enumerated targets can be added to the injunction.
The encouragement for the injunction to continue is the successful completion of Operation Falling Down in 2013. The operation — a year-and-a-half-long crackdown in conjunction with the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administrations — led to the indictment of 68 individuals. Four of the 68 are enumerated in the injunction. During the crackdown, police seized $72,000 in drug proceeds, 12 guns, nearly 9 ounces of heroin, 2 pounds of meth, and nearly 14 ounces of cocaine. As of the publication of this article, there have been no convictions related to this operation.
The use of gang injunctions is controversial, but it is a tactic that has been used regularly to fight gangs in California since 1987.
Yet in 2013, a federal appeals court ruled that a 2009 Orange County, California, injunction against the Orange Varrio Cypress gang was unconstitutional, as the criteria used to determine whether a person was a gang member were arbitrary and inconsistent and the imposed restrictions unduly constricted an individual’s liberties and constitutional protections. The challenge to the injunction, however, only applied to those who actively challenged their inclusion onto the enumeration.