Do Street Memorials Lead to Payback Shootings?

*Updated Friday morning to include current City of Berkeley policy 

In gang related shootings street memorials can lead to pay back shootings.

As a result, the City of Berkeley implemented a policy allowing officials to take down memorials immediately. The fear is that they invite retaliatory shootings.

But the street memorial that was up on Oregon Street last night is a tough call. It was for 24-year-old  just around the corner from . The memorial .

Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, of Berkeley Police Department, says there are “no indications” that Thursday night’s shooting was gang related. All was quiet at the memorial last night and the candles weren't lit. 

Still, some say leaving memorials up can lead to increased violence when they’re allowed to stand for more than 48 hours.

According to the South Berkeley resident and activist Laura Menard, street memorials should be taken down after 48 hours as an overall policy that’s consistently applied.

Menard helped implement the now defunct South Berkeley Crime Prevention Council. She says the folks hanging around outside memorials create a party scene in order to establish a territorial message: “We own this 'hood, we’re out here en masse. If you mess with us, we’ll come and get you.”

In a 2009 article, the Los Angeles Times talks about Berkeley’s policy on leaving street memorials standing. Then Deputy City Attorney Lisa Caronna said that Berkeley went even further, amending the 48 hour policy “to give the city manager the choice of getting rid of them right away,” the article says.

This policy developed as a result of a woman getting shot "by stray gunfire from an impromptu memorial gathering across the street," a 2008 San Francisco Chronicle article says. 

It’s unclear what Berkeley’s current policy is on leaving street memorials standing. Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, of Berkeley Police Department, referred Patch to the City of Berkeley Public Information Officer, who has not yet commented.

Regardless of Berkeley's current street memorial policy, it’s clear the policy in 2009 left leeway for the city and police department to use their judgment. And it’s a tough call when the shooting isn’t known to be gang-related.

Where do we draw the line between the public’s right to safety and individuals’ right to publicly commemorate their loved ones?

San Francisco resident Dijon Jones, who grew up in the neighborhood, said to leave the memorial up. He stopped in to while visiting his family in the area.  “They’re not hurting anyone,” he said of the memorial.

But in the case of Devin Whitmire’s memorial, maybe  it’s a moot point. As of last night the lonely memorial stood, but no one was there to visit.

(Watch in progress.)

*City of Berkeley says: ...The possibility of future violence is definitely a consideration. If there is a significant risk that gatherings associated with the memorial will trigger more violence, it can be removed in less than 48 hours.