Reaching near the bottom of the transom stack, this came over three days ago from Assemblyman Jose Solorio:

Assembly Public Safety Chairman Solorio Introduces A Bill That Cracks Down On Gangs and Drugs Bill Provides City Attorneys With The Additional Tools They Need To File Civil Injunctions

SACRAMENTO, CA—Assemblyman Jose Solorio (D-Anaheim) introduced a bill that will make a simple change to existing law that will consequently make a major difference in the fight against gang activity and drug trafficking.

AB 104 (Solorio) clarifies that city attorneys pursuing civil gang injunctions and drug abatement orders may access state and local criminal arrest databases to support their court petitions.  As it currently stands, current law is ambiguous as to whether such data can be used.  It lists “prosecuting city attorneys” among the persons entitled to receive criminal history information but does not define this term.   

“City attorneys say they need detailed arrest and conviction information on gang members to obtain effective gang injunctions and drug abatement orders from the courts.  I am proud to introduce a bill that will make it quicker and cost effective for cities to investigate, draft and enforce gang injunctions and drug abatement orders,” said Assemblyman Jose Solorio.

“This would be extremely helpful data for City Attorneys to have,” said Santa Ana Assistant City Attorney Paula Coleman, who worked with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office to file a gang injunction in Santa Ana last June. “Gang injunctions can be an extremely effective law enforcement tool,” said Coleman, adding that a three month audit found that crime dropped 46% in the designated safety zone cited in the injunction.

“I applaud Assemblyman Jose Solorio's leadership and vision in helping offices like mine intervene and disrupt illicit gang activity effectively and early -- before it reaches the level of felony crime," said San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who is sponsoring AB 104.  Herrera issued a civil injunction against the city’s notorious Oakdale Mob last fall and there has been more than a 60% reduction in police service calls in the designated safety zone since then.

The California Legislature enacted the Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act to deter gang violence, including the use of gang injunctions.  The act was enacted in 1988 and expanded in 2000 under Proposition 21.  To obtain a gang injunction, a city attorney files a civil suit against a criminal gang for its public nuisance activity including but not limited to shootings, drug dealings, car-jackings, loitering, vandalism, and graffiti.

If approved by the court, the injunction prohibits gang members from engaging in these activities within a designated “safety zone”—an identified area of the city in which the criminal street gang has been conducting its criminal enterprise.  In order to properly identify gang members and establish the safety zone, city attorneys require access to detailed criminal histories maintained by state and local law enforcement agencies including information on criminal convictions, field detentions, arrest information, and locations.

Similarly, when City Attorneys pursue drug abatement orders through the Civil Courts, they need detailed crime data to be successful.  Once in place, a drug abatement order allows a city to require building owners, landlords and tenants to abate the manufacture, sale, or use of drugs on the property or face penalties.

Assemblyman Jose Solorio represents Sixty-Ninth Assembly District, which includes the cities of Anaheim, Garden Grove, and Santa Ana.  He is also the Chair of the Assembly Public Safety Committee.  For more information about Assemblyman Solorio, you can visit http://www.assembly.ca.gov/solorio.