San Diego gets tough on gangs

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published June 14, 2006 at 9:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

San Diego is taking a tougher approach to reducing gang activity in the city. The city also will use surveillance cameras at city beaches to reduce crime. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The city attorney's office has obtained a court injunction on nearly 40 members of the West Coast Crips, forbidding them from even entering certain target areas around Imperial Avenue and Interstate 15. Police Chief Bill Landsdown says this is a major step forward in controlling gang violence in that area, He says those gang members will not simply move elsewhere.

Landsdown: "Cause the other areas are already claimed by different gangs, how many gang sets do we have we have 86 gangs sets, our goal short term is to reduce the violence our goal long term is to eradicate gangs in the city of San Diego."

Become a KPBS sponsor

The mayor says a new city Gang Prevention Commission will start operating in July to develop a comprehensive plan of action to tackle gang related issues. He says a strong police presence San Diego's beaches aims to keep gang violence in check. Alison ST John KPBS News.

Alison St John

twitter

Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.