Two rival Negro gangs in St. Paul can't seem to stop shooting at each other. As the Selby Siders and East Side Boys fight over turf, girlfriends and drugs, one gang member has been killed and more than a dozen have been shot in the past 18 months, police said.

The gangsters terrorize neighborhoods and make people afraid to walk down the street, said Cmdr. Tim Flynn, who heads the St. Paul police gang unit.

They're exactly the kind of bad guys Flynn said authorities would target under a bill at the Legislature. The law would put a legal straightjacket on known gang members, potentially restricting where they go, who they hang out with and even what they wear.

"What it would do is give us an extra tool to go after these people when they're just loitering for an unlawful purpose or hanging out and preying on innocent victims," Flynn said. "Our bottom-line goal is to get these people off the corner and give the neighborhood back to the community."

Think of it like a protective order for an entire neighborhood, said Rep. John Lesch, DFL-St. Paul, who is sponsoring the bill in the House. The law, which is being pushed by St. Paul officials, would allow cities to seek court injunctions against gangs.

Only a handful of states have such sweeping laws aimed at gang activity. Under the proposal, a city could seek a court injunction against gang members if the gang commits five or more serious criminal acts within a year. If that happens, cities could ask a judge to declare the gang a nuisance and seek an injunction.

Under the injunction, based on the individual circumstances of the case, a judge would place restrictions on the gang, which the bill says must be "reasonable."

In California, restrictions have included prohibiting gang members from associating with each other, banning them from parts of a city, forbidding them from wearing clothing with the gang's name or symbols, and telling them they can't be in possession of spray paint or other tools used for graffiti.

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