By BOBBY HORN JR
Local law enforcement, which stepped up their presence at the suspected crime-haven Haverstock Hills Apartments, now have a never-before tried method to rid the area of crime— civil penalties which create a “safe haven” around the complex, and ban 47-known gang members from entering the area.
In November 2010 Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos filed a public nuisance lawsuit against 33 “known members” of the Crips and Blood gangs. The injunction prohibits them from congregating in a 57-acre area near Aldine Bender and Lee Road, which includes the 700-unit Haverstock Hills apartment complex. Since then 14 more gang members have been added to the list.
Lykos said the apartment facility has become a center of crime and gang activity. She added that through the injunction she hopes to keep gang members out of the area, thereby causing crime to drop.
“The apartment management is doing its best, but gangsters are swarming the perimeters,” said Lykos. “Elementary school kids are seen flashing gang signs and wearing gang colors. No longer will the people in Haverstock have to walk the gauntlet of gangsters, prostitutes or other criminal activity. We’ve drawn a line in the sand.”
The judge has also ordered the gang members to repay the county $70,000 in prosecution and court costs.
Of the 47 gang members identified, 28 have voluntarily agreed to the ban. The other 19 have will be on law enforcement’s watch list.
Under the judge’s ruling, the zone has no expiration date. The $70,000 repayment is in effect for 20 years.
A first for Harris County
This was the first injunction of its type to be filed in Harris County.
Under the injunction, deputies have the authority to arrest on sight any of those named in the court document, even if they are not in the process of committing another offense.
The penalty for violating the injunction, a Class A Misdemeanor, can be up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
Harris County not alone with problem
While the injunction is the first of its kind in Harris County, other cities have similar anti-gang initiatives. Among these are a 9 p.m. curfew for known gang members, banning known gang members from possessing a cell phone in a vehicle and the prohibiting the wearing of known gang colors.
The cities of Bryan, El Paso, Fort Worth and San Antonio have also created “gang safety zones” similar to the one Harris County is proposing.
In 2006 San Francisco enacted a “civil gang injunction” targeting five “safety zones.” The City of Oakland soon followed suit. According to the San Francisco City Attorney’s office, they have seen the percentage of identified gang members arrested for non-injunction offenses drop from 41% in 2007 to 14% in 2010.
Although challenges to the injunctions have been, appellate courts in Texas and California have upheld the injunctions.
