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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Safety Zone Sought|in SF Gang War

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - A violent gang war led the city attorney to seek an injunction against members of two rival street gangs. The injunction would bar members of the Down Below and Towerside gangs from associating within a proposed "safety zone," encompassing three housing projects, where warfare between the gangs has left 10 people dead in 3 years.

"Defendants each monopolize part of the proposed safety zone area and promote an atmosphere of fear through the community, fostering the perception that defendants and their members are above the law," City Attorney Dennis Herrera wrote in the proposed injunction.

Many of the gangs' murders, robberies and drive-by shootings were committed in the streets or other public areas, Herrera says.

The Down Below gang has 100 active members, twice the number of the Towerside, according to the Superior Court complaint.

Herrera wants both gangs enjoined from harassing and menacing neighborhood residents, possessing firearms and other weapons, selling drugs, trespassing or flashing gang signs or symbols within the safety zone.

Gang members restricted by the injunction will be allowed to petition the city attorney's office to "opt out" and be taken off of the list.

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