Gang Injunctions and Abatement

Book excerpt: As gang violence continues to rise across the country and the world, police departments, prosecutors, and community members are seeking new methods to reduce the spread of gang-related criminal activity. Civil gang injunctions have become a growing feature of crime control programs in several states across the nation. Gang Injunctions and Abatement: Using Civil Remedies to Curb Gang-Related Crimes examines the effectiveness of this strategy and explores the accompanying constitutional controversies related to freedom of speech, assembly, and other rights. Questions raised by this thought-provoking volume include: What are the costs of gang violence to society? Do civil remedies curb violence in the communities where they are implemented? What factors make a given injunction or abatement more or less effective? What legal and policy issues stand in the way of gang injunctions and abatement? Providing step-by-step instructions on how to establish a successful injunction and abatement program, the book presents comprehensive research on the theoretical basis for the strategy. It includes a legal and chronological progression of actual cases and their outcomes, describing weaknesses and successes in various programs. Supplying succinct guidelines from lessons learned, the book enables prosecutors, police agencies, and the public to take steps toward eradicating gang activities in their communities.