Ft. Worth To Fight Gangs In Civil Court

Gangs and the violence that they breed are a major problem in all large cities. Until now, cities have had to fight back against the gang violence by taking action against individuals who they could prove had broken a criminal law. This left all the other gang members free to congregate and to terrorize the neighborhoods that they claimed as their own.

Because of this, the honest citizens were forced live in fear of the gangs, and there seemed to be little the police or city officials could do to help them. But now Ft. Worth has a bold new plan to take back the neighborhoods from these gangs. They are now going to civil court instead of criminal court, and they are taking on a gang as a whole rather than one individual at a time.

Officials in Ft. Worth are starting this new kind of battle with the gang they consider to be the most violent -- the Northcide Four Trey Gangsta Crips. Once the city has taken back the neighborhood from this gang, it will go on to do the same with other gangs.

The city has filed suit in the civil court of District Judge David Evans. They are seeking an injunction in the newly created "safety zone" that would prohibit any known gang member from engaging in a wide array of activities including:

* sitting or standing together in public view.

* using gang signs.

* possessing indelible markers or spray paint cans.

* using pagers or cell phones to further criminal activity.

* warning other members that police are approaching.

* violating a 9pm to 6am curfew for gang members.

Once the injunction is in place, these will be criminal violations for members of the gang, and will be prosecuted as such by the District Attorney.

This is a pretty radical departure from the past, and I had to take a couple of days to think it over. After doing so, I have decided that I'm in favor of the new plan, and I believe it has a chance to succeed.

Individually, none of these young punks could terrorize a neighborhood. They derive their power from banding together as a gang. Since the only power they have is group power, they must be fought as a group. The city has the right and the duty to bust up these criminal groups.

I applaud Ft. Worth's action, and I hope it succeeds. The criminal gangs have been a blemish on all our cities for far too long.