Redondo Beach Wins Restraining Order Against Gang

Redondo Beach has won a temporary restraining order against the North Side Redondo 13 Gang that prohibits gang members from congregating in gang-ridden Perry Park and from associating with anyone carrying a firearm.

After filing a civil lawsuit in Torrance Superior Court, police served 28 gang members Wednesday with a court summons and temporary restraining order that prohibits the gang members from conduct that the city has deemed a nuisance, city prosecutor Mike Webb said. If gang members violate the court injunction, police can arrest them.

Webb said gang members are violating many provisions in the Redondo Beach Municipal Code and the residents have complained that violence and gang problems are on the rise. Redondo Beach joins several cities in the state that have sought civil injunctions to stem gang crime.

“This has become a successful way to take back areas that gangs have claimed as their own,” Webb said. But the American Civil Liberties Union has opposed the tactic, saying that meeting in a park is a legal activity and that the restraining order violates constitutional guarantees against the issuance of warrants without probable cause.

A preliminary hearing to show just cause has been scheduled for May 22.