Page A7
January 21, 2009
______________ L a w & J ustice
Plan Addresses Local Gang Violence
With ‘Operation
Cool Down’
Portland City C om m issioner
Dan Saltzman, the elected official
w ho recently took over m anage
ment o f the Portland Police Bu
reau, announced the creation of a
m ulti-agency mission Thursday
to respond to an increase in gang-
related violence in the com m u
nity.
C a lle d “ O p e r a tio n C o o l
D ow n,” the m ission will focus
governm ent resources and en
forcem ent on individuals and
neighborhoods affected by gang
violence.
Dan Saltzman
photo by M ark W ashington /T hk P ori lami O bserver
Gang outreach officer John Canda tries to get parents involved in the lives o f gang-affiliated young people. The community outreach
on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard followed several weeks o f gang shootings and homicides from Portland to Gresham.
L.A. Goes after Gangs’ Money
(AP) -- The gang capital o f the
world is taking a new tack against
them: cash dam ages.
T he city o f L os A n g ele s,
plagued by 23,(XX) violent gang
crim es since 2004, including 784
m urders and 12,(XX) felony as
saults, announced last w eek that
it had won its first civil judgm ent,
for $5 m illion, against a crim inal
gang that had dom inated the
heroin trade dow ntow n for de
cades.
The verdict could bode well
for another first-of-its-kind law
suit the city filed last month that
goes after all assets o f gang lead
ers, not just those associated with
their crim inal activity. Both suits
seek to plow the money back into
im proving the neighborhoods
affected by the gangs through a
fund.
"By giving prosecutors more
tools to fight gang activity at the
local level, we are protecting our
Assets go to
repair neighborhoods
I f you break the law, we will not only find you, arrest you, and put you
behind bars, we will also take away your money, your property, your
homes, and your cars.
■■ Rocky Delgadillo, Los Angeles city attorney
Joshua Lynch, 12, holds a sign at an anti-gang rally in
Geensboro, N.C.
communities at the same ti me | that |
we're able to strengthen our state
wide anti-gang efforts," said Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger in a state
ment released with the announce
ment of the $5 mill ion verdict against
the 5th and Hill gang in L.A.
The civil suits were filed under
different am endm ents to state
laws, one passed in 2007 and one
in 2(X)8, designed to strengthen
au th o rities' ab ility to control
gangs. The 2(X)7 am endm ent al
lows law enforcem ent to seize
assets associated with crim inal
conduct. But the 2(X)8 law goes
even further - it allow s prosecu
tors to col lect dam age s from gang
members' personal assets, too.
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Representatives from Portland
Police Bureau, G resham Police
D epartm ent, M ultnom ah County
D istrict A ttorney’s O ffice, and
the United State A tto rn ey 's O f
fice will be coordinating their ef
forts with the Portland O ffice of
Youth Violence Prevention, mem
bers o f the faith com m unity, so
cial service agencies, and citizen
volunteers.
D uring the m ission, com m u
nity m em bers will see enhanced
patrols by officers from the Port
land Police G ang Enforcem ent
Team , H otSpot Enforcem ent A c
tion Team, the East M etro Gang
Enforcem ent T eam , M ultnom ah
County Parole and Probation and
M etropolitan G ang Task Force.
T he im proved coordination
between law enforcem ent gang
prevision efforts is m eant to pro
vide young people who are at risk
o f gang affiliation with alterna
tives that steer them aw ay from
acts of violence.
Recognizing that this program
will not perm anently solve the
longstanding problem o f gang
violence, Saltzm an said is in the
process o f seeking long-term so
lutions to com bat the violence
that plagues our com munities.
The D ecem ber suit against the
18th Street gang is the first to
make use o f the 2(X )8 amendment.
"W e're sending a message to
gang leaders across this city,"
sa id C ity A tto rn e y R o c k y
D elgadillo at a press conference
last month. "Ifyou break the law,
we will not only find you, arrest
you, and put you behind bars, we
will also take aw ay your money,
your property, your homes, and
your cars. Every penny we strip
away will be returned to the neigh
borhoods."
The tactic of trying to cripple
organizations by taking away their
assets has been commonly used
against the mafia. More recently, it
has been used against white su
premacist organizations. In 2(XX),
the Southern Poverty Law Center
won a $6.3 million verdict against
the Aryan Nations that forced the
organization to give up its 20-acre
compound in Idaho.
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Transit Cop Pleads Not Guilty
Wanda Johnson
(right), mother o f
Oscar Grant, leaves
an Oakland, Calif.,
courtroom, Thurs
day, after Bay Area
Rapid Transit police
officer Johannes
Mehserle was
arraigned for murder
in the shooting
death o f her son.
S h e riffs d ep u ties esco rted
(AP) — The form er O akland,
Calif, transit police officer charged M e h serle 's rela tiv e s into the
with m urder in the shooting o f an courtroom , which was filled with
unarmed black man on New Year’s family mem bers and supporters
D ay pleaded not guilty T hurs o f the victim, 22-year-old O scar
Grant The M ehserle fam ily has
day.
T he atto rn ey fo r Jo h an n es reported receiving several death
M ehserle, 27, entered the plea on threats since the shooting.
Prosecutors say M ehserle was
his client's behalf in an Alam eda
C o u n ty c o u r tr o o m , w h e re standing over Grant, who was
M ehserle was kept behind a glass lying facedown and restrained on
partition, out o f view to most a train platform, when the Bay
people during the 10-minute hear Area Rapid Transit officer fired
one shot into the man's back.
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