PUEBLO Chief Opposes Gang Injunction

Everything needs time to work, Mr. Alvarado. What we don't have, however, is the kind of time you need. While half the people on the list are incarcerated, they'll be back on the streets up to their old tricks in no time flat, actively recruiting.

And the other six or seven who "seem" to be “turning their lives around already and have had no criminal contacts since becoming adults"? The idea is to prevent indoctrination in the first place, rather than rehabilitate after the fact.

I'd love to know if your programs are preventing at-risk youth from becoming gang members in the first place. otherwise, returning a former gang member to society to finally become a productive member of it is a day late and a dollar short.

Alvarado argued that the South Coast Task Force on Gang Violence has initiated several programs that need to be given time to work. Alvarado suggested that with a gang injunction in place, such efforts might be “suffocated.”

What a load!!! And, exactly how much time to we need to give these little scumbags to straighten themselves out? We've wasted enough time already. This is a perfect example of these "advocates" running interference for these little thugs, while they're out doing whatever they feel like doing unabated. It's disgusting!

The gang injunction is a good idea because it lets people like Cam Sanchez and Dale Francisco say they are doing something, anything, instead of actually doing something. It's also great for the tourism industry to show that Santa Barbara is a place everyone should want to visit.

John_Adams,
Are you saying that the gang injunction is bad or that it is one part of a multiple strategy to lessen gang activity in this town? If you are implying the latter than we probably agree. How about we start by addressing the honest truth that in SB gangs are (nearly)universally Latino and therefore the constitutionally legal gang injunctions will, by design, target age specific Latino's in SB. Pretty tough to racially profile when the group of thugs is homogenous. Oops, those true statements probably makes me a racist according to PUEBLO...

So what if this gang injunction targeted only Whites? Then would it be alright to enact?
Mr. Alvarado makes it seem like this injunction only targets Latinos.
Well, Senor Alvarado, if a gang member happens to be Latino/Latina then he/she is a gang member & deserves the outcome of the injunction, just as if he/she is Black, White, Asian, WHATEVER & mainly IN A GANG!
It ain't about race dude, it's about CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR which ANY ethnic/racial/WHATEVER group is capable of.
From what people like Mr. Alvarado are saying, it is perfectly alright to be a gang member if you're Latino. I guess I'm a disappointment, being Latino & not in a gang.
Por favor, PUEBLO, GET OVER YOURSELVES! The sooner you do, the sooner you'll realize that even those whom you claim to represent in this case are nothing but lowlife SCUMBAGS! :) henry

I've been trying to give Alvarado a chance but he seems as clueless as the last PUEBLO leader (who would have led marches to City Hall if some other ethnic group was inflicting as much damage on the Latino community as these homeys). I guess since the killings, stabbings, beatings, tagging and intimidation are coming from within, PUEBLO thinks it's no big thang.

Gang Injunction legislation only addresses the symptoms of a root problem instead of attacking the root cause. It’s akin to stubbornly treating the symptoms of a disease when the cure is known, documented, and obtainable, however it is obstinately ignored in this community.

This new tactic puts a spotlight on SB's rising disinvestment of its communities of color. The correlation of race and low income communities to the gang injunction is not a harmless coincidence. The injunctions will result in redlining SB neighborhoods. More hoods than ever before will be segregated along lines of economic class and race. Not only that, it’s also important to realize that this gang injunction is an attack on our civil liberties.

Rather than laws that make racial profiling all too easy, what would actually create safe communities for SB is funding social services such as gang intervention and prevention programs, providing jobs, job training, life skills training, affordable housing and providing better educational opportunities for young people (MUCH CHEAPER BY THE WAY). Gang Injunctions are wrong for SB and wrong for everyone.

End the war on drugs and tomorrow you'll see gangs on the street corner having a bake sale to raise funds to go on a camping trip.

Seriously, the only reason these gangs exist is because of stupid drug warriors.

I assume all these gang members are on probation. Why can't they be arrested for violation of probation if they are doing anything wrong? What is the need for an injunction?

"This new tactic puts a spotlight on SB's rising disinvestment of its communities of color. The correlation of race and low income communities to the gang injunction is not a harmless coincidence. The injunctions will result in redlining SB neighborhoods." - goofy321

The only people "redlining SB neighborhoods" are these nasty little gang bangers. Are you kidding me? SB's rising disinvestment of its communities of color? What's that supposed to mean. Oh, I know! Let's build a community center on the east side for these little punks to hang out. That way, they can stop using the public library on the east side as their little gangster headquarters, and have a nice new community center from which to operate instead.

"Rather than laws that make racial profiling all too easy, what would actually create safe communities for SB is funding social services such as gang intervention and prevention programs, providing jobs, job training, life skills training, affordable housing and providing better educational opportunities for young people." - goofy321

When going after gangsters, exactly who almost always FITS the profile? Almost ALL of the gangsters in Santa Barbara are young hispanic males (sometimes females)! What do you want the police to do, go after German tourists just to show they're excercising the proper amount of political correctness? God! It's like TSA strip searching 5 year olds in airports, while giving middle easterners a pass, going out of their way just to show that they're not profiling, even though we all know who we should be looking for, but won't admit it. And, how many MORE free giveaways do you propose we do? Better educational opportunities for young people (hispanics only, if PUEBLO had its way)? Really? As if there aren't hundreds of programs out there if you would only look. And, you'll notice that MANY of them are only available to "people of color"; no white guys need apply. But, you have to be seriously brain damaged if you think any of these lazy little punks are going to give up what they're doing to take advantage of any of these free giveaways...uh...I mean...educational opportunities. Again, these little idiots do what they do because they like it. They will continue to do what they do because people like you excuse it. They will do what they do more effectively because people like you oppose any and all efforts to stop it.

Waz: "these little idiots do what they do because they like it. They will continue to do what they do because people like you excuse it. They will do what they do more effectively because people like you oppose any and all efforts to stop it.

DITTO! :) henry

We've waited long enough for parents' to take hold of their children, we've waited long enough for the Chief to make and declare an injunction, and we've waited long enough for all of the social justice organizations' to assist the parents' and schools with modifying the bahaviour of the individuals' who have a need to "belong", a need to belong to the wrong group. Isn't it time for parents' to step up to their responsibilites as parents' and use some love, guidance, resolve to teach their children that belonging to their own family is most important to make them contributing members' of our society...step up to the plate. Get on with an injunction ASAP, it is needed..I come from a large Mex-Amer. family and all are contributing members of society and have four grown sons' as well.

What PUEBLO, MALDEF, the ACLU, and every other apologists for the causes of the gang lifestyle refuse to do is address--or even ask themselves is *why* this measure--whether or not it's the answer--or even if it's constitutional--has come to pass.

People are frustrated and feel helpless and betrayed by their own government as they watch the gang population explode. Case in point: a family friend who moved into a nice working-class neighborhood near San Marcos High School in the mid 1990's. She had to move out in part because the gang graffiti was making its way onto her property. What was she going to do?...call the cops? I know just from my experience in high school: if you mess with one gangbanger, you'll have an army of them coming after you so you simply sit down, shut up, and get out. Simply put, they took over the neighborhood. The Domino Effect: one neighborhood goes, then the next, then the next.

I've never heard any politicians or community activist discuss the pressure ambitious Latino kids face when they try to break the cycle and the harassment they face from gangbangers while their teachers and community leaders stand by powerless. Those two magical words "acting white" come into play here. Yes folks, that's what goes on. I went to Santa Barbara High School and saw it in action for three years but as I say, the teachers cannot, or will not, do anything about it.

We have to look at the big picture: we have a country to the south of us that has a lot of people and many of them are VERY poor. It is easy to come up here, (no ocean to cross although "Coyote" smugglers and weather are issues they have to deal with) and the overall mantra/lie that "our economy needs these workers" can be disproved by common sense. Simply put, as long as Mexico's poor are seen as expendable cogs in the business machine for the U.S. and as long as Left-wing forces here refuse to see the negative impact of creating an academic and economic underclass the gang problem *will* continue to escalate and the frustration of the average person will continue to grow.

Gang injunctions and what is happening in Arizona are simply the natural conclusion of the inevitable results of a country which refuses to fix its problems and the political vested interests of another country exploiting this situation at the expense of all those except the few who benefit from this myopic approach.

Santa Barbara: love it or leave it.

Is jfklbj hinting that be the slogan on the Dale Francisco lawn signs?

PS, gang injunctions are the new Light Blue Line.

"PS, gang injunctions are the new Light Blue Line."
- John_Locke

You must be kidding! You're going to equate cracking down on gangsters with painting a stupid blue line on the ground? You really need to lay off the "medicinal" herb you've been smoking. Unlike the blue line (which I'm pretty sure you thought was a splendid idea), the gang injunction addresses a real and present problem. You anti-injunction types keep harping on the fact that the injunction alone will do nothing. Of course, that is true. However, I haven't heard anyone say that the injunction is the end all, be all of gang erradication. That would be naive and simple-minded. The injunction would simply be another weapon in local law enforcement's arsenal for fighting gang activity. Many of us in favor of the injunction are also in favor of law enforcement cracking down hard on these little punks in every way imaginable. The citizens of Santa Barbara also have to do their part, and stop being intimidated by these sawed-off thugs, and start fighting back to keep their own neighborhoods safe. We sit back on our collective butts, and watch while these morons take over neighborhood after neighborhood. All the while, the so-called "compassionate" lefties just say, "Throw more social workers and community centers at the problem, so we can get back to our feel-good garbage like painting lines on the ground and banning plastic grocery bags."

Sorry, John_Locke. I meant to point out that that horrendous quote was from John_Adams.

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!

Waz and friends just confirmed and explained thoroughly that a gang injunction, any injunction, is doing something symbolic and conspicuous like the Light Blue Line.

Both the gang injunction and Light Blue Line lower property values, waste public money, remind us of what we do not want to believe because the solutions are too costly and difficult, and both become a frothy wedge issue to motivate a political base.

But a gang injunction is still a wish list awaiting to be tested in a court of law. The Light Blue Line was an art project painted on the street.

John_Adams: "But a gang injunction is still a wish list awaiting to be tested in a court of law. The Light Blue Line was an art project painted on the street."

So what you seem to be saying from the 1st part of that statement is the following: Don't try, give up, accept the worst, you'll never win.
As for the 2nd part of the statement all I can say is that so-called "art project" known as the blue line had more meaning than just art. It was 1 of those "green" gestures (instead of actual actions) that was supposed to make people aware of the impending doom of global warming.
So like waz points out: "the gang injunction addresses a real and present problem."
So therein lies the problem: You got an ENEMY (yes, I use the word ENEMY to address gang members, regardless of race, ethinicty, religion, WHATEVER) that is in your face & terrorizing innocent people versus an envorinmental condition that is getting more attention than you can shake a stick @.
This is what puzzles me. An immediate, real, apparent ENEMY being coddled, appeased & catered to in a way that is lax in every definition of the word.
Meanwhile, w/ all the technology available to track the effects of global warming & people want the city to spend more $$$ (not their's of course, OURS) to paint a blue line to show the rising water levels that can already be addressed w/ available technology?
Backass halfwards all the way. The injunction IS a piece of "technology" that must be used to address the problem of the ENEMY known as gangs.
Why should being a gang member be made easy? Remove the ease, glory, pride, ego, whatever, of being a gang member & watch these clowns either sink or swim, Darwinism @ it's purest level.
All you blue line supporters claim to be Darwinists right? The intended goal of the gang injunction is as Darwinistic as it gets: SINK OR SWIM :) henry

I believe a significant percentage of people would continue to support more social solutions if we had commensurate resolve to utilize all law enforcement solutions as well. Making gang life more difficult has proven beneficial in Los Angeles among other places, how can this possibly be a bad thing? When all Italian Americans were stereotyped, because of the actions of Sicilians that were mafioso, they lived with RICO and its application on a subset of Sicilians, which was similary intended to make it more difficult to function as an ongoing criminal enterprise. RICO worked and we all were the beneficiaries.
Mexican gangs in the U.S. exist at the whim of the cartels. This is not conjecture. They have grown at an astromonical rate as pipelines to move contraband. Claiming that this is a solely a social problem flies in the face of what has been proven.
Finally, when will people admit that PUEBLO and MEChA are not Latino advocacy groups, but instead mouthpieces for illegal aliens and the drug gangs. Americans that happen to be of Latino descent are among the real losers here...

"Waz and friends just confirmed and explained thoroughly that a gang injunction, any injunction, is doing something symbolic and conspicuous like the Light Blue Line."
- John_Adams

Wow! You really need to work on your reading comprehension skills! Exactly where did I say that a gang injunction is "something symbolic", or anything close to that? Here it is again. You can read it after you come down from whatever you're on:

"I haven't heard anyone say that the injunction is the end all, be all of gang erradication. That would be naive and simple-minded. The injunction would simply be another weapon in local law enforcement's arsenal for fighting gang activity."
- waz

I've never thought of a weapon in an arsenal as merely "symbolic". And, I would love to have you explain to me how not letting gangsters to whatever they want, as opposed to letting them do whatever they want, will lower property values. "Oh! Look honey! This city has a gang injunction. Let's not move there. Let's find a city where the gangs run unabated."

Why are people so hateful? Mr. Adams, my father always said, "let a fool be a fool." So many people on this blog are purely hateful and have no idea that they are part of the problem as to why young people act out. This is done with "anonymous" aka's.
It is clear to most readers that the hateful people will forever be miserable with their own lot in life and must blame others for their misfortunes. They are creating their own form of violence only it is in cyberspace. Whether people get hurt physically or emotionally, the scar will forever remain unless we do something to amend that. Let's just hope if they do spawn children, that those children do not grow up with the same issues as their parents.

@concerned4rKids: I would make a bet you probably have not had a child who has been beaten, stabbed, or otherwise terrorized by gang members. If you have, then you lack the protective instincts needed to be a good parent.

Let me explain something to *all* those who think we are "hateful": the gang problem is very real. @John_Adams: You are worried about an injunction lowering property values? I would rather pull my head out of the sand and admit the Santa Barbara has a gang problem as opposed to hushing it up.

There is nothing "hateful" about talking honestly about cause-and-effect. Some people simply want to throw them all in jail, while others want to coddle them with social programs and ethnic studies, I'm saying let's cut the doctrinaire nonsense and admit that as long as we have one set of standards for one group of immigrants and a lower standard for another, the latter group will continue the endless cycle of poverty and susceptibility to "at-risk" behavior with which we've all become so familiar.

Once again, I think of my family friend who had to get out of her neighborhood because the gang problem simply took over. There may be some among you who have lost your self-preservation instincts to the point where if you or your family were harassed, beaten, or killed by one of these thugs you would be apologizing to the assailant who committed the crime. For some of us though, we see what is coming via the L.A. Express and are living in the real world.

If we stopped coddling gang culture and if people would quit lying to themselves about the putative benefit of exploiting cheap immigrant labor, a gang injunction would not even be up for discussion.

One more thing: What is happening in Sweden, France, and England with Muslim immigrants isn't so much about religion but it's really about the same failed economic policies that we have in this country. (With the tacit blessings of both political parties) It's all about importing people with the idea of using them for cheap labor, not expecting them to assimilate, and then being surprised when the policy blows up in your face.

"So many people on this blog are purely hateful and have no idea that they are part of the problem as to why young people act out. This is done with "anonymous" aka's."
- concerned4rKids (if that is your real name)

You must be joking, or very ignorant. WE'RE part of the problem? It's people like you and John_Adams that are out there coddling these little pieces of trash. You people pretend to have all the answers, and we've done it your way for so many years, but with no results. Actually, there has been a change in gang activity in recent years; IT'S GONE UP! So, what do you propose we do with these little gangsters? Wait a minute...I know...Let's throw tons of money at them! Let's build community centers with basketball courts and ping-pong tables. Let's hire open-minded "progressives" to sit down with them and make them understand that all of their violent acts, their criminal behavior, their tagging, their constant intimidation of those weaker than they, etc., is not their fault. It's the fault of people like me who wish to see them arrested and incarcerated for their disgusting behavior. Let's let them know that we understand that poverty is an excuse for acting like an ignorant little thug. I know. MOST people that grew up poor didn't turn out to be low-life criminals like they did, but we'll just ignore that, and go with the most plausible excuse we can muster. All of those other people were just lucky anyway. Hell! If we just throw in a little racism to go with that poverty, we can double down on the excuses! And, let's start even more "educational opportunities" that these pea brains wouldn't go near if you paid them. Simply stated; Let's keep on wasting our time blaming law-abiding citizens while the problem continues to get worse. Well, concerned4rKids, I have a big sloppy surprise for you. These "young people" aren't "acting out". They're acting entitled. They've grown up in a society filled with entitlements, largely created by people like you. They've been taught that working hard and earning what you deserve is nothing more that some kind of institutionalized slavery that is only for suckers, and that getting things should be much easier than it is. They know that no matter what they do, there will be people like you out there making excuses for their behavior.

"Let's just hope if they do spawn children, that those children do not grow up with the same issues as their parents."
- concerned4rKids

And, let me tell you something, concerned4rKids. I've "spawned" 3 children that I send to private school. I make sure I know where they are, and I make sure I know what they're doing. Most importantly, I teach them to be accountable for their behavior, and to not make excuses, or pass the blame on to someone else. I teach them that there are weak cheese people out there like you who will tell them that they're not responsible for their failures, or even for their successes in life.

Carlos Wazny

Concerned4rKids: "Why are people so hateful? Mr. Adams, my father always said, "let a fool be a fool." So many people on this blog are purely hateful and have no idea that they are part of the problem as to why young people act out."

Hateful? WE'RE hateful? PULEEZE (that's ghetto for PLEASE), give us all a break already!
It ain't hate we feel, it is actual CONCERN for our city, town, enclave, whatever, the direction it is going thanks to clueless folks like yourself & the safety of innocent LAW ABIDING residents.
The appeasers & coddlers have ruined our neck of the woods, hard working folks & our youth (w/ entitlement beyond belief). Look appeasing & coddling have gotten us: An increase in gang members. Youth acting out, yeah, right.

"This is done with "anonymous" aka's."

Last name's Sarria, used to write for the SB Indy, long time journalist for UCSB Daily Nexus, BMX/MTB racer, former contest (pro @ 1 time) skateboarder, snowboarder, surfer, working high tech industry professional. I fessed up, so WHO ARE YOU?!

"It is clear to most readers that the hateful people will forever be miserable with their own lot in life and must blame others for their misfortunes."

It is YOU that is miserable or @ least esconced away in your "happy place" w/ ZERO clue as to what the problem REALLY is: GANGS! They ARE the ENEMY!

"They are creating their own form of violence only it is in cyberspace."

Please, get over the cyberbully thing, that's an issue w/ rich, upper class kids in rich White suburbia or the ivory tower of academia, not working class folks here in the SB/Goleta/Noleta/IV neck of the woods.

"Whether people get hurt physically or emotionally, the scar will forever remain unless we do something to amend that."

Uh, duh, you think so Wilbur? Jeez Captain Obvious, your superpowers astound me! I want you to look me in the face (if you got the chutzpah) & tell me outright that those innocent victims of gang violence such as the kid in Carp beaten w/ a bat aren't hurt? I also want you to PROVE to me that these filthy gang members that commit crimes against innocent victims don't feel good about their evil deeds. BET YOU CAN'T!

"Let's just hope if they do spawn children, that those children do not grow up with the same issues as their parents."

Personally I hope you DON'T have kids because they're going to grow up being wussies that "hateful" people like us will have to constantly bail out of problems due to their parental induced inadequacies. They would sink, not swim, a TRUE Darwinistic failure of epic proportion.

In all, concerned4rkids sounds to me like either a mouthpiece for PUEBLO, 1 of the coddler/appeaser types w/ no clue to the REAL problem (gangs) or it is DonMcD's other handle :) henry

@Waz and Hank: The issue at hand is that these kids truly ARE victims, but they are victims of the brainwashing they receive by so-called "progressives" who tell them that they A: cannot achieve because of racism or "the system", or B: they are "selling out" of they try to achieve.

Larry Elder (whose link I will provide at the bottom of this post) said the White Liberal was the Black person's worst enemy. I would define it w bit differently: The TRUE White Liberal (the ones such as my parents and their friends who also preached personal responsibility--part of which was that fathers actually participated in the upbringing of their children and didn' t dump their wives/girlfriends) should be credited for standing up to racism in the days when racism was legal and systemic, but the "progressives" of today who make excuses are not of the same way of thinking of those who truly wanted racial equality.

Multiculturalism and the concept of nonwhites making progress in the U.S. work at cross purposes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Elder

...or C: They're just plain lazy, and they know they can get away with it (with the help of lefty apologists).

Waz, they're actually culturo-pologists. That's a new major (culturopology 101) @ any left leaning ivory tower institute taught by $250k/year professors teaching that anything USA = bad, all things socialism = good (well, good as long as they don't have to relinquish that $250k/year tenured salary) :) henry

Come on folks, lighten up on the weird ass metaphysical ramblings of concerned4Kids. He/she is probably doing the "best they can" "working two jobs" in this "oppressive society" just to "make ends meet" while the "privileged class" gets their life on a platter.
Two questions do need answered however, and as reiterated in previous posts; please tell all of us why "children act out" and also why most people, whether minority or majority race do not spawn kids "that act out". Is this what gang banging is, acting out and is it just dumb luck that most of us, regardless of poverty or not, raise kids that become productive members of society? I just want to insure we're all up to speed on the path to our cosmic enlightenment.
To billclausen:you and I both know that being liberal has been unsurped by the progressives and to simply be in complete and total favor of all people being treated equally, decently, and honestly is not enough. Especially when the miscreants and thugs happen to be part of some "underprivileged class". It's got to be the fault of someone other than those that are deviant...

I think "concerned4rKids" is off to an AYSO soccer match where EVERYBODY gets a trophy :) henry