East Side violence needs more than a ‘bandaid,' DA says

‘Gang injunction' initiative not answer, Nico LaHood says

SAN ANTONIO – Bexar County’s top prosecutor had strong words following a spike in violent crimes on the city’s East Side.

District Attorney Nico LaHood said he believes there are more effective ways of handling the prosecution of violent offenders than using gang injunctions.

Enforcement, outreach part of East Side strategy

“It’s still in the civil practice and remedies code,” said LaHood on Monday. “But it was an experiment in my opinion that was done in the past. My issue is this: I’m real big on not just putting a bandaid on an issue (or) a problem.”

LaHood said gang injunctions, which were started by his predecessor, Susan Reed, haven’t been pursued since 2012, and that it’s time to move on and try something else. A spokeswoman for LaHood’s office said there have only been a total of 9 more gang injunctions filed since the first one was filed in 1999.

LaHood pointed out that a gang injunction is, at its core, a lawsuit filed against a person who authorities may be trying to keep out of an area. Like any lawsuit, he said, it would be answered and set for a hearing before a permanent injunction can be filed. That process can take some time, and eventually, if it makes its way through the legal system, can be dispensed to law enforcement.

But LaHood said he wonders if there are better ways to deal with the problem of violence on the East Side.

“I look at the effectiveness of any action that we take down the road and we can really get the result that we need,” LaHood said. “What it takes to get a gang injunction is the issue that I think a lot of people have. It’s a lot of work on the front-end for, some people argue, not a lot of return on the back-end on effectiveness.”

Instead, he said he thinks there are better ways to deal with the situation.

“I think there’s more effective ways of handling the same issues, through community supervision, through probation officers, through judges, through verdicts, either through a jury or sentencing through plea bargains based off ... fair but also aggressive prosecutions,” LaHood said.

So, too, is San Antonio District 2 City Councilman Alan Warrick looking for solutions.

Warrick, whose district encompasses the East Side, said he is working on a four-pronged approach:

  • ​Working on “shotspotter” technology, which can be used to detect areas where gunfire occurs. That work started last February and the city is planning on implementing it before the end of April
  • Being on the ground through POP (Problem Oriented Policing), working through San Antonio Police Department’s street crimes and gang units
  • Using federal support, specifically the DEA, that will offer technical assistance and best practices
  • Reaching people through community engagement and outreach. In areas where there are no associations, they will try to  create them

Warrick said a community that refuses to accept violence can shift the dynamic and create change where the violence has occurred.

But even in areas where POP is happening, like Denver Heights, Dignowity Hill, Government Hill and Alamodome Gardens, the violence isn’t occurring there, Warrick said.

As city leaders and law enforcement personnel try to hammer out the issue, LaHood said he wants to make punishment for repeat offenders harsher. Currently, a gang injunction, if filed, is a Class A misdemeanor, which could result in a one-year jail sentence.

The bottom line is community safety for everyone, he said.

“This is a community we all live in. I was born and raised here. My children are raised here,” LaHood said. “So it matters to me. I don’t live in an ivory tower. I live in the community and I drive the same streets as everybody else does. So I want it safe, for everybody -- for East Side, West Side, South Side, North Side -- everybody. So I’ll work with anybody to make sure that our community is safer. Period.”