Violators would be subject to arrest on misdemeanor charges, which could bring a $1,000 fine or up to one year in jail.
There are dozens of similar injunctions in place in cities throughout Southern California, including Los Angeles, Anaheim, Oxnard and Riverside. Los Angeles County has about 44 gang injunctions, according to the district attorney's office.
The move against Mob Piru comes two years after Compton officials, faced with a rash of gang-related homicides, pledged to crack down on gangs.
"We are putting criminals and gang members on notice," Mayor Eric J. Perrodin said at the time. "It's time to pack your bags. Crime is not accepted in Compton."
Since then, homicides have dropped by about half, according to city crime statistics.
A hearing is scheduled today for a temporary injunction to be put in place until the court can hear arguments for making it permanent. Despite the drop in violence, a gang injunction is still needed to fight a host of other gang offenses, officials said.
"You have everything from homicides to graffiti -- it's a whole range of activities," said Deputy City Atty. Craig Cornwell. "We're still very hopeful that the injunction is going to have a positive effect on the community."
Whether it will is not clear, community members say.
Saunders, the planning commissioner, said deputies are already overly aggressive. Her son, a 21-year-old barber, "gets harassed every other day by police asking: 'What set are you from?' 'What gang are you in?' 'Do you have a gun?' "
"Will a gang injunction make the community feel safer," she said, "or will it make the community feel as if it is being harassed?"
The neighborhood named in the injunction encompasses a few blocks where tree-lined streets with single-family homes and two large apartment complexes sit side-by-side. A gated community of tract homes selling for half a million dollars is within its boundaries.
Outside a grocery store within the proposed "safety zone," Rhonda Warren, 51, sat eating lunch Wednesday and preparing for her first day of work. Warren, who was born and raised in Watts and has lived in Compton for two years, said gang members are killing one another every day. She seemed resigned about the violence in her community.
"They're going to do what they want to do anyway," she said.
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paloma.esquivel@latimes.com
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Times staff writers Chuck Philips and Andrew Blankstein contributed to this report.
