OFF THE WIRE
www.wsmv.com/news/23197978/detail.html Metro Police To Begin Using Gang Injunctions Gang Members Who Violate Order Could Get Jail Time Reported By Nancy Amons
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- With gangs a growing problem in Nashville, the effort to stop them is growing, too.
The Metro Police Gang Unit will be expanding May 1 with more officers on the streets, increasing from 12 to 18 detectives.
"There's plenty of work out there for 18 detectives," said Detective Mark Anderson of the Gang Unit.
And on weekend nights, the Gang Unit officers patrol places where they know gang members hang out in the implementation of a new plan to keep gang members away from hot spots for crime.
This summer, Metro police will start using this type of documentation in its new tool to fight gangs: a gang injunction.
Metro police will document a particular person as a gang member, then ask a judge in civil court for something like a restraining order preventing that person from gang activity in the area where the gang is known to hang out.
"Two or more people who are in a gang, wearing gang colors, throwing gang signs, committing any kind of gang activity, and if they are, we cite them under the gang injunction, and they have to go in front of the judge," said Sgt. Gary Kemper.
Gang members who violate the injunction can receive jail time.
Anderson pulled over a driver who ran a stop sign Friday in a known gang area. The driver had a suspended license, and he was tattooed with symbols for the Gangster Disciples gang. The Gang Unit photographed him and entered his name into a database used for tracking gang members.
Gang injunctions originated in California. They've been challenged on constitutionality issues, but upheld. This will be the first time a gang injunction has been used anywhere in the state of Tennessee.
