Southeast / Long Beach : GANG ENFORCEMENT

As she presents her final case in court today against a notorious Long Beach gang, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jessica Goulden hopes to wrap up a yearlong operation that has won praise across the city.

But whether she wins or loses, city officials don’t want to let her go. Although they have no guarantee that Goulden would remain at the helm, the Long Beach City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to spend nearly $100,000 to extend for another year the innovative anti-gang program that brought Goulden to the city last January.

The program focuses on gathering evidence against neighborhood-based gangs who repeatedly terrorize residents. Prosecutors then request a restraining order against gang members that includes a ban on certain otherwise lawful activities, such as whistling to announce the arrival of police or carrying bats.

In a similar program in Norwalk, the district attorney’s office won a permanent junction in September against 22 members of a gang that had terrorized residents but has since caused fewer problems, police say. Today, Goulden will ask a judge to sign a permanent injunction against 30 of the most active members of the West Side Longos, a Long Beach gang. A temporary injunction against the Longos has been in place since early October.

“It’s working,” said Councilwoman Jenny Oropeza, whose district includes the 20-square-block community the Longos have considered their turf. She said the neighborhood is much quieter since the restraining order was signed.

The injunctions have been criticized by attorneys of the American Civil Liberties Union, who say such restraining orders skirt due process protections under the law.

Just which Long Beach gang will be targeted next under the program is undetermined, Goulden and Oropeza said.