Oakland is poised to join San Francisco as one of the first Northern California cities to try to tame street gangs by slapping them with lawsuits.
In coming months, City Attorney John Russo will seek Oakland's first civil gang injunction, his office said. Such measures bar gang members from associating with each other or displaying colors, among other sanctions, in certain areas of town.
Officials in Russo's office and the Oakland Police Department declined to reveal the gang they planned to target, saying they did not want to tip off its members.
But they said they were gathering evidence and would soon reach out to community groups and civil rights advocates who may have concerns about the injunction.
