The Bloomington Pantagraph ran an interesting AP article today on a tactic used by some cities to fight gang-related crime: civil lawsuits. Sounds crazy, but apparently it has had some success:

Fort Worth and San Francisco are among the latest to file lawsuits against gang members, asking courts for injunctions barring them from hanging out together on street corners, in cars or anywhere else in certain areas.

The injunctions are aimed at disrupting gang activity before it can escalate. They also give police legal reasons to stop and question gang members, who often are found with drugs or weapons, authorities said. In some cases, they don’t allow gang members to even talk to people passing in cars or to carry spray paint. […]

Those who disobey the order face a misdemeanor charge and up to a year in jail. Prosecutors say the possibility of a jail stay — however short — is a strong deterrent, even for gang members who’ve already served hard time for other crimes.

The article goes on to state that this method has so far withstood court challenges.

I decided to ask the Peoria Police Department if they had ever heard of this tactic and if they thought it would work. Chief Settingsgaard is on vacation this week, but Officer Ann Ruggles replied via e-mail and said that of the officers she contacted, only Captain Phil Korem had heard of filing civil lawsuits against gang members. Thus, the Police Department has no comment on the effectiveness of that particular tactic.

However, she added that “Peoria does have a Gang/Narcotics Loitering Ordinance (similar to Chicago), that has helped us in keeping track of the gangs and its membership. Keeping the individuals moving, and in some cases [barred] from certain areas of the city, known for drug sales, does help.”

Since the council will be discussing crime prevention techniques at their August 28 meeting anyway, perhaps this would be a tactic worth investigating.