GANG INJUNCTION CALLED EXCESSIVE.

Byline: Phillip W. Browne Daily News Staff Writer

Langdon Avenue residents got a chance to challenge City Attorney Jim Hahn's gang injunction lawsuit Saturday, saying that jobs and opportunities will clean up the streets, not legal action.

Holding signs that read ``injunctions are not protective'' and ``we need gang prevention programs,'' residents gathered for a community meeting at Langdon Avenue Elementary School to peacefully share their grievances.

``We feel it doesn't do justice for the people named in it . . . and if the gang members move out, other gangs will move in,'' resident Margarita Diaz said. ``We want programs and solutions, not gangs, not drugs, not our youth dead in the street.''

Hahn's pending injunction against 31 suspected members of the Langdon Avenue gang has been touted as a measure to cripple the gang's power and reduce crime in the neighborhood.

Hahn and the Los Angeles Police Department have said traditional law enforcement has failed to stop the violent gang - suspected rulers of the local drug trade and believed responsible for three shootings near Monroe High School since November 1997.

``I disagree that injunctions are an oppressive tool that affect the quality of life,'' Hahn told the group, citing drastic crime drops in other injunction areas targeting the notorious 18th Street gang. ``It doesn't apply to the general public. . . . Police cannot use the injunction to sweep an area of kids with short hair and baggy pants.''

Residents have argued that Hahn's tactics are excessive, would cause more trouble for the community by allowing other gangs to come in, and that gang members would lose their civil rights. Instead, they want jobs, opportunities and community programs.

``That's the only way I see we are going to stop this problem,'' resident Manuel Castaneda said. ``We don't need the police harassment. We need education and intervention.''

If approved by a judge on May 20, the injunction would impose a 9 p.m. to dawn curfew on 31 suspected street thugs and prohibit them from being seen together in public. It would apply to two sections of North Hills near the 405 Freeway, including around Langdon Avenue Elementary School and James Monroe High School.

Gang members would also not be allowed to own cellular phones and pagers or congregate in public, and would be forbidden to go on private property without written permission from the owner.

Hahn has filed six abatement actions against street gangs so far - including the Blythe Street gang in Panorama City - since the state Supreme Court ruled the tactic constitutional two years ago.