Snellville has hung out the "No Vacancy" sign for gangbangers.

By passing the street gang terrorism and prevention ordinance Monday night, the City Council also served notice that suspected gang members will find it very difficult to keep a rental roof over their heads within the city limits.

Landlords can streamline evictions in cases where three or more suspected gang members are living together, using a civil court process that can take a few weeks or even days, as opposed to four to six months under the existing criminal court process.

Police Chief Roy Whitehead, who pushed for the ordinance, said Tuesday it is a preventive measure, as opposed to a reaction to an existing widespread problem.

"We want to prevent it [gang-related activity] from coming here," Whitehead said.

Whitehead said his effort to get the ordinance passed was partly as the result of one recent case, where four brothers suspected of being gang members were arrested and then evicted. They are still suspects in an investigation that could involve charges of burglary, robbery, statutory rape and holding a teenage girl against her will for four days, he said. The family has denied the siblings were part of a gang.

Under the new law, the police will work in partnership with landlords who believe they've rented to gang members, he said. Police will go to Magistrate Court along with the landlord and help present evidence to a magistrate, who, if convinced, can issue an eviction notice.

"There's a possibility this could be seen as displacing a crime problem," Whitehead said, acknowledging that evicted gang members might just move to a nearby community with less stringent ordinances. But if enough cities pass similar ordinances, they'll have nowhere to go, he added.

Landlord and Realtor Dave Holley said he supports the measure but doesn't want landlords to be held liable for any illegal activity by tenants.

Whitehead said the group of suspected gang members whose case led him to seek this ordinance had come to Snellville after being evicted from a rented home in another county.

Source: AJC.com

Goosey's Gabbings...

So, does the KKK count as a gang? I think they'd probably have some pretty full jail cells if it were.....

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