Gang activity in Wichita Falls seems to be on the decline, and the Wichita Falls Police Department credits the controversial gang injunction with some of that decrease in activity.

The W.F.P.D. said the gang injunctions are working, and although there have been criticisms of the program, officials said they hope their tough stand will serve as a warning to other gangs. The gang injunction program has been in full swing for longer than two years.

Criminal Intelligence Officer Tommy Smyth said, "We are very happy from an enforcement stand point as nightly suppression efforts our arrests are still being made nightly."

The injunctions prohibit known gang members from congregating in specific zones. Smyth told us he's ready to defend the program, which he said started in response to increased gang violence.

Smyth said, "We were really at a crossroads in the latter part of 2005 and into 2006, especially with a couple of gang related homicides in the summer of 2005 that we were looking for a nifty enforcement tool."

The two current injunctions are designed to curb the violence from two rival gangs, VC (varrio carnales) and PLM (puro lil' mafia). Opponents have called the injunctions a violation of civil rights.

Smyth said, "We've persevered twice on this in the Court of Appeals, the Fort Worth Court of Appeals, I believe. There always runs the risk of somebody wanting to file a lawsuit."

Smyth said critics also accuse the injunction of being too broad, but he said that's not the case.

"This was not done arbitrarily. You basically had to look at the individuals in the city who had to some degree been involved in a great deal of activity," Smyth said.

Smyth also said they frequently get calls from other cities and even other states interested in starting injunction programs of their own.

"We constantly get calls from other cities wanting to model or get an injunction of the ground like we have here," said Smyth.

Of the 21arrests made in the injunction back in April, Smyth said 15 of those arrested are in negotiating federal plea deals. As for the injunction zones, calls reporting gang activity are down more than 12 percent.