Santa Barbara City Attorney Steve Wiley and the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office will ask a Santa Barbara Superior Court judge for an interim gang injunction on certain alleged gang members at the next hearing Aug. 31.

The city of Santa Barbara is looking to disrupt the Eastside and Westside gangs’ activities by banning acts that are considered a public nuisance, said Hilary Dozer, chief deputy district attorney for southern Santa Barbara County.

A temporary injunction would restrict the actions of 30 named individuals while a separate civil case makes its way through the courts over the next year, Wiley said.

“I think this case could be lengthy because there are a number of people who could be affected and a number of prohibited acts that could affect them differently,” Dozer said.

Among the banned actions included in the injunction are being on school grounds and in parks, acting as a lookout, using gang signs, speaking with minors going to and from school, and wearing gang-related clothing in public.

Those named in the injunction can opt out by proving that they haven’t been in a gang for three years, haven’t been arrested for a felony or misdemeanor, and haven’t gotten any new gang tattoos.

“People should be given the opportunity to get out of the gang lifestyle,” Dozer said. “If they’re not, they shouldn’t be subject to same sort of rules.”

The opt-out provision should have a more concrete path for those who may have only associated with gangs as teenagers with the opportunity to get out of the lifestyle, said Mark Alvarado, executive director of the nonprofit PUEBLO.

By rolling out the gang injunction, the city is treating the symptom of gang violence instead of the deeper issues of a low-income community that is not civically engaged and has language and cultural barriers with the City Council, Alvarado said.

“You’re seeing this temporary injunction to prove to the broader public that this is still moving forward,” he said.

Dozer confirmed that some of the individuals named in the injunction have challenged their inclusion but could not confirm which ones. He said it was unlikely that their arguments would be heard at the next hearing.

Wiley told Noozhawk that it could be another year before the injunction goes to trial.

Various injunctions have been imposed on gangs in the Los Angeles area basically on default after a complaint is filed, Dozer said. It did however take five years for Yolo County near Sacramento to have its gang injunction approved by the courts.

If the court grants Santa Barbara’s gang injunction, it would be the first time the Eastside and Westside gangs have been recognized in civil law. They have already been recognized in multiple criminal cases, Dozer said.

— Noozhawk intern Daniel Langhorne can be reached at dlanghorne@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Become a fan of Noozhawk on Facebook.