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San Fernando Valley
Main Article: San Fernando Valley

Although not as well documented as other regions of Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley minority community has been plagued by gang-related crime and violence. Crimes related to gang violence have generally declined over the mid 2000's however, since 2014, gang-related crime has increased in the west San Fernando Valley by 63% according to Charles Crumpley, publisher and editor of the San Fernando Valley Business Journal. In order to combat the gang violence, the Los Angeles Police Department launched a campaign of gang injunctions across the Valley. Gang injunction is a variation of a restraining order issued by U.S. courts that prohibits gang members in a certain area from participating in specific activities.

Early '90's to Mid 2000's: Gang Injunctions and its Implications
At the turn of the century, gang related-crime that includes murder, robbery, rape, burglary, aggravated assault, larceny and theft, were a frequent occurrence in the San Fernando Valley. In order to combat the increase in violent crimes, the Los Angeles Police Department's Foothill Division deployed a campaign of gang injunction across the Valley. In April of 1993, the Department embarked on the Blythe Street gang injunction that encompassed sections of the Devonshire and Van Nuys police divisions. Although not made permanent until February of 2000, between 1993 and 2001, there have been a total of 60 arrests; 40 of which were related to a direct violation of the injunction and the rest were indirect arrests due to the discovery of another crime while investigating a violation of the injunction. The gang injunctions in the early 2000's were successful in reducing violent crimes in the San Fernando Valley however, many are convinced that the injunctions against the gangs f the Valley are the reason for the expansion of gang-related crimes in surrounding areas.

After the injunction of the Blythe Street Gang in April of 1993, a 45 page report released by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California stating that even though the rate of violent crimes were reduced in the Blythe Street neighborhood, the injunction had contributed to the spread of gang-related crime in the surrounding neighborhoods of the San Fernando Valley. The critics of gang injunctions argued that these procedures ultimately created a stronger sense of gang cohesiveness, a heightened resentment toward law enforcement, and spread gang members into surrounding neighborhoods resulting in higher violent crimes rates in those neighborhoods. However, these reports were met by a cold shoulder from law enforcement, especially from Assistant City Attorney, Martin Vranicar Jr., the city's top gang prosecutor at the time. Los Angeles Police Lt. Fred Tuller further shut down the reports by expressing to the media that these methods had worked in the Valley and the crimes associated with the Blythe Street Gang had decreased in the area. Since the mid 2000's, gang-related crime has decreased 5-10% without major spill-over into other neighborhoods but has spiked since 2014 according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

2014 to 2016
After a period of steady declines in gang-related crime during the 2000's, the San Fernando Valley experienced one of the lowest periods of violent crimes from 2012-2014. However, the Los Angeles Police Department has reported that violent, gang-related crimes has increased by 63% from 2014-2015. The cause for the cycle of crime might be attributed to a number of different factors that may include money, narcotics sales, or the release of a prolific gang member from prison looking to recruit members for his crew. Gang-related murders in LAPD's Devonshire, Topanga and West Valley's division more than doubled from 3 in 2014 to 8 in 2016 with the Topanga division experiencing the sharpest increase. The Topanga division reported 0 homicides in 2014 compared to 5 gang-related homicides reported in 2015. In the West San Fernando Valley, there were a total of 848 gang-related crimes in 2016, which is a 33% increase from crimes reported in 2014.