In what's turning into a slapfight between elected attorneys over civil gang injunctions, public defender Jeff Adachi recently sent a proposal over the Board of Supes that, according to the Examiner, "would give named alleged gang members priority when it comes to receiving city services, including, 'city funded economic development, employment, vocation, educational, housing, asset building, mental health, drug treatment and social service programs.' And Dennis Herrera is none too pleased.
Who would have imagined that practicing the art of rape, turf wars, murder, and the choreography of Jerome Robbins could produce such a civic bounty?
This is the most recent counterattack to Herrera's three gang injunctions that prevent certain types of people from breaking curfew, sporting gangbanging-esque primary colors, and loitering on street corners. While Adachi's heart is in the right place, or something like that, Herrera argues that this type of public assistance "sends an irresponsible message to law-abiding youth that the best way to gain local government assistance is to join criminal street gangs." (Everyone knows that going insane or contracting an incurable disease is the best way to do that, Dennis.) Herrera goes on to say that his injunctions help "disrupt gang activity effectively and early, before it reaches the level of felony crime."
Or, you know, there could be a heavier, more consistent police presence in gang-afflicted areas.