New anti-gang law short on real answers

A new state law that takes effect this summer will allow the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to revoke or suspend liquor licenses of bars and nightclubs that serve as hangouts for gang members.

The law recognizes that a "toss 'em all in the slammer" approach has been an expensive and ineffective approach to controlling criminal gangs. However, it's not clear that this new approach will achieve the desired results either.

True prevention requires a comprehensive effort by the entire community. The greatest promise lies in programs that offer young people alternatives for social interaction and economic opportunities. A study last year by the Justice Policy Institute revealed that most gang members join when they are 12 to 15 years old, long before they are patronizing bars.

Some communities also are trying to tackle the culture that breeds gangs in their communities by penalizing landlords and bar owners who create the environmental conditions in which crime can flourish.

The concept is similar to popular programs that target blight and vandalism as part of broader crime control efforts. However, in this case the technique raises serious questions.

Should bar owners be held responsible for what their customers do when they're not on the premises?

Existing law already allows ABC agents to crack down on bars that serve as meeting places for "persons of ill repute." That comically vague language makes the law hard to enforce. Adding "members of a criminal street gang" seems to provide greater clarity at first glance, but the legal definition of a gang member is still confusing.

How can a bar owner know when the fellows lounging in the corner booth are a "group of three or more persons... whose members individually or collectively have engaged in the commission of, attempt to commit, conspiracy to commit or solicitation of two or more predicate criminal acts"? Owners worried about the new law could make snap judgments resulting in racial discrimination.

Adding to those negative consequences is the bottom-line reality that the new law probably will have little effect on gang activity in Hampton Roads or the rest of the state. There are simply too few ABC agents to adequately police Virginia's bars.

Concerns about inadequate state enforcement against rowdy and violent nightclubs have motivated local prosecutors in recent years to take matters into their own hands and indict bar owners under public nuisance laws. It's a cumbersome process that raises some of the same sticky legal questions as the new state law.

Two years ago when the public nuisance law was used against the Miami Restaurant and Lounge in Virginia Beach, local authorities noted that there were seven ABC agents overseeing 884 establishments with liquor licenses. Today, there are five agents attempting to mind 912 establishments. As long as Virginia continues to scrimp on enforcement, a tweak in the law will have little effect.