ABSTRACT
STEP 6: PREPARE THE ORDER, DECIDE WHICH TYPE TO OBTAIN The type of order that was obtained and how the order is drafted impact the issue of effectiveness. Police and prosecutors can typically take one of four actions: sue the gang only, sue the gang and named defendants, sue defendants only and not the gang, or sue the gang with some defendants named in the supporting declarations but not listed as defendants. The complaint may name the gang as the sole defendant, it may name individual defendants in addition to the gang, or it may name only individual defendants. Naming only the gang seems to offer law enforcement flexibility and may lower the costs of bringing the injunction because rather than building a case against each gang member the prosecution intends to bind, the prosecution would only have to build a case against the gang as a whole. Notwithstanding these possible advantages, naming only the gang may present problems if a gang member challenges his or her inclusion or claims that he or she is not a gang member and is not part of the public nuisance.
