Are San Francisco's gang injunctions working?

From KALW News,

Four years ago, San Francisco faced a stubbornly high crime rate. To fight back, City Attorney Dennis Herrera and the police department turned to a controversial crime strategy – the gang injunction. It’s a public nuisance lawsuit filed in civil court that restricts the movements and actions of individuals accused of membership in a street gang. Violators are charged with a misdemeanor and face fines or up to six months in jail.

San Francisco's first injunction was implemented in the Bayview in 2006, against 25 alleged members of the “Oakdale Mob” street gang.

Over the next three years, further injunctions were obtained against groups in the Western Addition,the Mission District and most recently, Visitacion Valley. The City Attorney and SFPD claim the injunctions have contributed to reductions in crime, but some residents say they result in police harassment of black and latino youth and pave the way for gentrification.

Read more at KALW

Gang Injunction in Vis Valley Approved

The gang injunction for two Visitacion Valley gangs has been approved by the court. There have been five gang injunctions imposed on gangs in other parts of the city in recent years, resulting in what the City Attorney's office calls a "cooling off" in gang activity.

Read more at KAWL news...

For the City Attorney's office information on gang injunctions, read more here.

What was said about this at last night's Visitacion Valley forum? Did any of you go (I had a class last night)?