RICE UNIVERSITY
Krumped Control: Constructing the L.A.P.D. Interface
by
Cary D'Alo Place
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE
Master of Architecture
APPROVED, THESIS COMMITTEE:
Sug^Oliver, Professor in Practice, Architecture
Cs=J^^ Fares el-Dahdah, Associate Professor, Graduate Program Chair, Architecture
J3n
Eva Franch, Wortham Fellow 2008, Architecture
HOUSTON, TEXAS FEBRUARY 2009 UMI Number: 1466832
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ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT
Krumped Control:
Constructing the L.A.P.D. Interface
by
Cary D'Alo Place
What is at stake in this thesis are the ways in which we approach policing and controlling the cityscape, and, more importantly, architecture's role in this authoritative and institutional apparatuses. Looking at the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles as both example and test site, this project analyzes how and why the policing apparatus of a city fails to operate effectively, especially in contested urban environments. Existing architectural precedents here, and in other dense cities, have been reduced to emblematic fortresses, where the station and the police are rendered inactive and inaccessible. Responding to this crisis, this thesis re-imagines the police station as a piece of city infrastructure that situates itself as an interface between police and populus. Borrowing from vernacular models of spatial organization and local public phenomenon, the traditionally invisible policing processes get invaded by the surrounding neighborhood, rendering those processes visible and accessible. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost I'd like to thank my parents, Tom Place and Grace D'Alo, for their tremendous love, support and enthusiasm for everything I do. To my sisters, Kate and Julia, for keeping me going and not letting me get away with too much.
To Chris, Cynthia, Guy, Elaine, Curtis, Lily, Kent and Christy - the best extended family one could hope for.
Very special thanks to my advisor, Doug Oliver, for having faith in this project even when the going was tough, and providing a much needed critical eye. And also special thanks to Nana Last, for her calming guidance, telling me to 'just do good work/ and giving me perspective when I needed it.
I'd like to thank Albert Pope for his intuition, sometime skepticism and support for the intellectual curiousity of the sometime odd topics that drove this research.
Big thanks to the friends who pitched in and helped with production-Jesse Hager, Mike Valenzuela, Marti Gottisch, Seanna Walsh and Benson Gillepse - and to the friends who listened while I stressed - Izabel Gass, Jessica Mutter, and Ali Manigat.
Finally, I'd like to thank the community of people in Los Angeles who have provided so much assistance and inspiration - Tommy the Clown, Mario Thomas, Larry, the Krump Kings, Big Mike, Joe Mozingo of the Los Angeles Times and the officers of the 108th St. Station, Southeast Bureau. z >- 0 X < a. e V) • ST 2 o Q o o q 2 a. at. £2 I < o CO csi CO as. 1. INTRODUCTION This thesis project has been preoccupied with understanding how and why the policing apparatus of the American city breaks down in contested urban environments, primarily looking at the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles as both example and test site.
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WHAT IS AT STAKE IN THIS PROJECT ARE THE WAYS IN WHICH WE APPROACH POLICING AND CONTROLLING THE CITY SCAPE, AND ARCHITECTURE'S ROLE IN THESE AUTHORITATIVE AND INSTITUTIONAL APPARATUSES.
k 2. BACKGROUND Historically, architectural studies of L.A. have dealt with characterizing large-scale urban differences to the detriment of understanding localized cultural phenomenon. For instance, both Reyner Banham and Edward Soja, and to a lesser extent Mike Davis, in chronicling Los Angeles in terms of "ecologies," make little or no mention of the area of the city known as South Central. South Central is problematic to investigation of the city because it epitomizes the conflict between large-scale generalizations of space and local differences that exist within. In fact, "there is no clear agreement on what exactly constitutes South Central Los Angeles."1 South Central exists within the greater Los Angeles metropolis as a mythical place without fixed boundaries. The popular view of South Central as a dangerous and strife-ridden section of the city is reinforced by the fear and negativity generated in the wake of Watts riots in 1965 and 1992. These so-called mythical boundaries are defined and redefined depending on the current urban mythology of place. Most recently, in 2003 the City Council of Los Angeles voted to rename the community 'South Los Angeles', a move widely regarded as an attempt to erase the image of South Central promoted by the riots and films featuring gang violence and drug culture.
1 Anderson, et al. An Atlas nf Snnth-Ointral T r»s Anpp.lp.s Claremont, CA: The Rose Institute of State and Local Government, Claremont MeKenna College, 1992 souTHmmw
Gojg[ich, Erik. Starving for Embarras' Los Angeles first took form as a pueblo, which rapidly grew to a large city with the first railways southbound toward Wilmington. Six years later another railway was finished, which ran north to connect to the Transcontinental Railroad. South Central and specifically the Watts neighborhood have historically been almost exclusively African-American communities in a predominantly Anglo metropolis. This was for two reasons: proximity to industrial jobs at the port of Los Angeles and easy public transit access to downtown. \w
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Black mobility outside this industrial area was undermined by Watt's incorporation into the City of Los Angeles in 1926. The incorporation of Watts into the City of Los Angeles nullified any autonomous political will the African American community may have held in the face of segregation policy advocated by the city's government. Even with an ever-expanding population, this dynamic stifled the development of any substantial political force. The most prominent example of the city's refusal to honor their minority citizens is the longstanding resistance to develop public housing for low-income workers and African Americans. Two housing projects were eventually built during the end of World War II, Jordan Downs and Imperial Courts, the latter initially been considered temporary. LINES IN SOUTHERN OF THE PACIFIC ELECTRIC RAILWAY CALIFORNIA
Nonetheless, Watts became the hub of black settlement, the streetcar and bus being the primary means of transportation. The most traveled lines were the local Los Angeles Railway U car on Central Avenue and the Big Red Car interurban, or 'express' from Watts to Long Beach. The latter traveled to the Long Beach Naval Shipyard, which was one of the largest employers of African Americans during the war era. Ornette Coleman Johnny Hodges Dinah Washington Duke Ellington
It also became the unofficial cultural main street of LA, with clubs and bars sprawling down Central Avenue. Musicians such as Omette Coleman, Johnny Hodges, Duke Ellington, Billy Holiday, and Dinah Washington could be seen regularly, and W.E.B. DuBois would proclaim it as one of the most vibrant and promising African American communities in the 1930s. By 1950s, Los Angeles is devoting 40% of land to storage of
But as Los Angeles moved into the freeway and automobile era, inadequate public transportation created a huge disparity between those who had access to transportation and those who didn't. Watts, in the span of two decades, radically shifted from an active, culturally rich community to an economically depleted wasteland. The geographical advantages held by Watts in the through the World War II were rapidly devalued. It was no longer in close proximity to industrial jobs (many of the plants closed and moved farther out into the suburbs, reachable only by car and not mass transit) and the interurban railway was fully dismantled in 1961, making downtown and the rest of the city extremely inaccessible to residents. With the construction of the Harbor Freeway (1110), the street level rail lines that made the rest of the city accessible were killed off. The result is Watts is now shut off from the city, circled by four highways cut off from the rest of South Central proper. The highways, for the most part, are of limited access and bypass Watts and most of South Central. From 1940-1965 the African American population in Los Angeles increased from 75,000 to 650,000. Because the city was extremely segregated, the population was concentrated in two areas: an already deteriorating Watts and the Central Avenue District. African Americans comprised 87% of the community. As the white population moved further out of the city that the postwar suburban construction allowed for them to do, the three largest African American neighborhoods, Central Avenue, Watts and West Jefferson, became one, creating what has been referred to as a "black belt" of more than forty square miles of segregated cityscape. Locution of a shooting in Watts, Los Angeles n and baby on sidewalk in Watts, Los Angeles Burned residence from Watts Riots, Los Angeles Location of a shooting in Watts, Los Angeles 1972103rd St. where it is reported o beer truck was overturned Litter Catherine Purdy, with one of her children, stands near pile of Stort Gone-Charles Steppes stands in front of burned-out store near Shot up phone booth in front of market at 2116103rd St. where shoot Tuesday night rotting furniture left outside her court apartment in Watts his home in Watts. After the rioting, his fulltime job in a store in the ing incident took place Monday night Creator/Contributorlos Angeles Times (Firm), Publisher Creator/Contributor: Los Angeles Times (Firm), Publisher Crenshaw district was cut to only four hours each week Creator/Contributor: Los Angeles Times (Firm), Publisher Oliver, R. L, Photographer Date: October IS, 1965 Creotor/Contriburodos Angeles Times (Firm), Publisher Oliver, R. L, Photographer Dote:Morch 16.1966
34 deaths | 1,032 injured | 3,952 arrests | 977 buildings damaged, burned, looted or destroyed
The 1965 riot broke out after an incident incited police violence on the corner of Avalon and Imperial, and raged unchecked, due primarily to inadequate action taken by the city, for fivedays . 1992 RIOT TRIGGER POINT FLORENCE & NORMANDIE
1965 RIOT TRIGGER POINT' AVALON & IMPERIAL 52 deaths | 2,383 injured 16,291 arrests | 1,063 buildings damaged, burned, looted or destroyed
The 1992 riot occurred a year after the initial event of police brutality, the beating of Rodney King by four LAPD officers. The announcement of a not guilty verdict in all four cases instigated and escalated violence in the protests that began around the city. Although popular culture stigmatizes the riots as part of the black/white rioting paradigm of the 1960s, some scholars consider the 1992 Los Angeles riots as America's first multicultural riots. An analysis of the 7,056 arrests records from April 30 to May 9 show that 51% of those arrested were Latinos. "The nature of rioting in the United States, particularly in Los Angeles, is growing out of the black/white paradigm and developing into something new and diverse," where feelings of anger or resentment are not exclusive to one ethnic group but rather are identifiable by numerous groups. This theory is supported by the relatively recent in-migration of Latinos into South Central. Since the 1992 riots, the Los Angeles Police Department has been under oversight by the FBI. The Christopher Commission, organized by the city to report on the status of the LAPD in 1993, recommended the hiring of, at minimum, 5,000 new officers. They attempted to address the following questions:
1. The "apparent failure to control or discipline officers with repeated complaints of excessive force" 2. "concerns about the LAPD's 'culture and officer's attitudes toward racial and other minorities" 3."difficulties the public encounters in attempting to make complaints against the LAPD" 4."the role of the LAPD leadership and civilian oversight authorities in addressing or contributing to these problems." NEWYORK 1 OFFICER POP 8.15 mil 38,000 uniformed officers 215 resid 303.3 SM 125 OFFICERS | 1 SM
469.1 SM tmt LOS ttm ANGELES HO ftfft 1 OFFICER | POP 3.85 mil fttf 397 residents 19 OFFICERS | ISM
UtitltMU CHICAGO POP 2.85 mil 1 OFFICER 210 residei 227.1 SM 60 OFFICERS | 1 SM n = 1 resident Calculations found that the LAPD has the fewest officers per resident, and the fewest officers per square mile. This results in more arrests per officer (a statistic the LAPD is extremely fond of). In 1991, the LAPD had approximately 8,450 sworn officers and 2,000 civilian employees. As of August 2008, the LAPD has 9,733 sworn officers and 3,303 civilian officers. They have the budget (ending in January 2008) to have 10,310 sworn officers. 3. ARGUMENT In Los Angeles, I would argue that the Los Angeles Police Department has not utilized architeture as one kind of interfacing mechanism between its system and the cityscape it patrols. Existing architectural precedents here, and in other densely urban environments, have been reduced to emblematic signage, with stations becoming more and more fortress-like, rendering police space as both inactive and inaccessible. Existing interfaces between the police and the communities further enforce this inaccessibility. Interface is defined here as a mechanism that enables separate and sometimes incompatible elements to coordinate effectively. These existing interfaces are manifested in fancy technological gadgets, the black (not blue) uniforms, SWAT and the general corruptive history of the department. This is significant because both architecture and the city are inherently spatial manifestations, and the policing institution does not have enough bodies to populate the city. SYSTEM > FAILURE
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The result is that the existing system doesn't work. The panoptic disciplinary relationship breaks down when bodies are not actively deployed and engaged in space - whether that is a socio/political decision or a fact of life. This has become most apparent during both the 1965 riots and the 1992 Rodney King riots. What is fascinating and horrific at once is that the so called 'flash points' of these events are within 10 minutes of each other, and spread through the exact same areas. The effects of these events are still tangible today, which is partly why this site was chosen. SYSTEM FAILURE SUBVERSION
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Because the system fails, other societal infrastructures create subversions of this power and control. In LA, the city's authority over it's space is subsumed by street gangs, precisely because they operate as spatial territorializing entities. It is the de-facto social authority in most neighborhoods in south and east LA and deny the basic ability to move freely through the urban environment. ff WEST COVINA MOB ff GANGSTER CRIP, 4-8 ff ORIGINAL HOOD CRIP I6. VALLEY SIDE JEFROX (JFXI 19, NORTH HOLLYWOOD LOCOS (MHLS) 1. 21ST STREET ff 456 ISLAND ff WEST SIDE PIRU - COMPTON ff. GANGSTER CRIP, S3 f ORIGINAL SWAMP COMPTON CRIF. VALLEY SIDE TEMPLE STREET (T»10RTH HOLLYWOOD AREA a. 29TH STREET ff 64 BRIMS (DEFUNCT) u WEST SIDE PIRU - CARSON ff GANGSTER CRIP. 87 ff ORIGINAL VALLEY GANGSTER QSOTH STREET 20. NORTH SIDE ISTH STREET, NORTH 3- 33RD STREET ff 706 BLOOD ff WEST SIDE PIRU - WEST COVINAGANGSTER CRIP, 96 ff PALM & OAK GANGSTER J. BARRIO ST, ANDREWS (BSA) HOLLYWOOD AREA 4. 38TH STREET 32 BISHOPS ff HACIENDA VILLAGE BLOOD ff GANGSTER CRIP, 97 » PALMER BLOCC COMPTON CRIPS. BIG TOP LOCOS 21. PACAS KNOCK KNOCK BOYS, PA- 5. 39TH STREET ft ACRE HOOD PIRU (DEFUN(ST1D4 CRIP GANG » GANGSTER CRIP, 98 ff PARK VILLAGE COMPTON CRIRS3. BURLINGTON STREET LOCOS COIMA AREA 6. 42ND STREET LIL ft ATHENS PARK BOYS *> 3RD STRET CRIP INACTIVE ff GANGSTER, HOOVER S2 ff PERVERTS 4 CRAZIES 22. PACAS PiERCg ST, PACOIMA AREA CRIMINALS 9 A LIS© ViLLA&e: BRIM (DEFIJI(WH)ST«EET WATTS CRIP ** ©AWDEIVJA PAY BACK CRIP ff PIMP TOWN MUHOER SQUAD S. CRAZY RIDERS 13 23. PACOIMA 13 AKA PACAS 13, PACOIMA 7. 41ST STREET ff AVENUE PIRU GANG ff ACACIA BLOCK COMPTON CRIF» GEER GANG CRIP ff PJ WATTS CRIP 6, DIAMOND STREET AREA 8. BOTH STREET ft BARTENDER PIRU (DEFUN«T3LTADENA BLOCK CRIP ff GHOST TOWN CRIPS ff PLAY BOY GANGSTER CRIP 7. DRIFTERS 13 24. PACOIMA FLATS (PF), PACOIMA AREA9. 55 BUNCH ff BE-BOPP WATTS BISHOPSP ANGELO MAFIA CRIP ** GRANDEE COMPTON CRIPS • iNyAetrA>£BOY HUSTER CRIP S. EASY RIDERS 25. PACOIMA HUMPHREY BOYZ (PHBS),IO. ALLEY TINY CRIMI- ff BLACK P STONES-CITY ff ANZAC GRAPE COMPTON CRipff GRAPE STREET WATTS ff PLAYBOY STYLE CRIP 82 9. ECHO PARK 13 PACOIMA AREA NALS (ATC) - SOUTH- ff BLACK P STONES-JUNGLE*&ATLANTIC DRIVE COMPTON CF#RSRAVE YARD CRIP » PLAYBOY STYLE CRIP 101,106 10. ISTK STREET, BROADWAY & 7TH 26. PACOIMA PROJECT BOYZ, AKA PACSIDE ff BLOOD STONE PIRUS ff AVALON 40'S CRIP ff GUNDRY BLOCC PARAMOUNT€R(PCCET HOOD COMPTON CRJPSTREET PROJECT BOYS (PJB1, PACOIMA AREA 11. BARRIO MOJADOS ff BLOOD STONE VILLIANS ff AVALON GANGSTER CRIPS 53 ff HARBOR CITY CRIPS ff RAYMOND AVE CRIP 102 n. 18TH STREET. COLUMBIA LIL C coS7, PACOIMA VAUGHT
ff DIRTY OLD MAN GANG .ff KITCHEN CRIP GANG. 95 ff STEVENSON VILLAGEE CRICRIP_(CO|.P (Cot^^tOPA| MQPAL STREESTREETT # 1. R|Ncw£Ai^eEtfia^-OCOS. SAN 25. PLAY BT)YS (PBS) * HOOVER FAMILY (DEFUNCV)DODGE CITY CRIPS ff KITCHEN CRIP GANG. 11G LAGE DOG) t INGLEWOOD FAMILY GANG*? DON'T GIVE A FUCK ff LANTANA BLOCC COMPTON CWI&TRAIGHT BALLERS t JARVIS STREET PIRU (DEFfflrmovVN ASS PIMP GANG, log ff LDH 73 ZONE CRIPHO totalling an eshmated 41,000 ganq members. *» TEN LINE GANSTER CRIP 16. VARRIO NUEVO ESTRADA (VNE) 3. RANCHO SAN PEDRO SANTA CRUZ * KABBA6E PATCH RlRU ff DRAGNET ff LETTIN NIGGAS HAVE IT 15. THWMOB CREW (TMC) SAN PEDRO * WW tPF)27. ,SOUT 23RDH STREELOS (SXLT ) ft KALAS PARK LOKS ff Du Rocc CRIP « OSAGE LEGEND CRIP, 102 ff TINY HOODSTA CRIP 17. WHITE FENCE (WF) STREET, SAN PEDRO 2S. STREET CRIMI ff LEUDERS PARK PlRU ff DUCKY HOOD COMPTOP CRipff MACK MAFIA CRIP ff TMHG 1. CLANTONE 14 4. RANCHO SAN PEDRO 16TH STREET, NALS (SXC 13) ff LIME HOOD PiRU ff EAST COAST CRIP, 1ST - NACTWOAFIA CRIP. 99 ff TONGA CRIP GANG 2. EIGHTEEN STREET ( HGS) SAN PEDRO 29. STREET SAINTS # LYNWOOD MOB PIRU ff EAST COAST CRIP. 59 ff MAIN STREET CRIP ff TRAGNIEW PARK COMPTON CRIR3. LA MIRADA LOCOS 5. PARK WESTERN LOMAS, SAN PEDRO(STS), ff MAD SWAN BLOOD ff EAST COAST CRIP, 62 NHC ff MAIN STREET MAFIA CRIP ff TWILIGHT ZONE COMPTON CRIP1$,>IARA SALVATRUCHA (MSI 6. VARRIO 204TH STREET, HARBOR 30. STREET SAINTS ff ff MID WILSHIRE BLOODS (DaFBAEirCOAST CRIP. e> f MANSFIELD GANGSTER CRIP UNDER GROUND BLOCC CRI REBELS 13 7. W1LMAS, EASTSIDE, WILMINGTON (STS), 99TH STREET ff MIDTOWN FAMILY {DEFUNCSTEAST COAST CRIP, 68 ff MARVIN GANGSTER ffVENICE SHORE LINE THE MAGICIAN CLUB (TMC) S. WLLMAS, WESTSIDE, WILMINGTON 31. SU1CIDALS. 13 ff MILLER GANGSTER BLOOCSSEAST COAST CRIP, 69 SHACC ffitjytoEi'O AVE COMPTON CRIP ff VICTORIA PARK CRIPS 7. VIRGINIA STREET 1. ALLEY TINY CRIMINALS (ATC), JEFFER- WATTS ff MOB PIRU ff EAST COAST CRIP, 76 ff MENLO GANGSTER CRIP, 103 ff WARD LANE COMPTON CRIP 1. ISTH STREET, NORTH SIDE. NORTHSOKLPARK - WESTSIDE 32. VERNON HOOD ff NEIGHBOR HOOD PIRUS # EAST COAST CRIP, 89 NHC « MENLO GANGSTER CRIP. 65 *» WATERGATE CRIP LYWOOD AREA 2. DRIFTERS. 23RD STREET WESTSIDELOCOS (VHLS) ff NEIGHBORHOOD PIRUS WSEAST COAST CRIP, 97 ff MCKINLEY AVENUE CRIPS ff WATTS MAFIA CRIP GANG ALLEY STREET LOCOS. C HATTSWOftTlSRIFTERS - WESTSIDE 33. WASHINGTON LO « ROLLIN 20S NEIGHBORHOttJBAST COAST CRIP, 0102 ff MONA PARK COMPTON CRIPS* WATTS PLAYGROUND CRIP 115 AREA 4. 42ND STREET LOCOS COS AKA WASHINGTON BLOOD ff EAST COAST BLOCC CRIP, lis ff MOST VALUABLE PIMP GANGSTSVE DONT CARE CRIP 3. ASTORIA GARDEN LOCOS 5. 46TH STREET -WESTSIDE BOYS (WNLS/WNBS) ff ORIGINAL BLOCK PIRU 151 ff EAST COAST BLOCC CRIP, I90CRIP * WEST BOULEVARD CRIP 28 4. BARRIO VAN NUYS (BVN). VAN NUSSISTH STREET, SOUTH CENTRAL 34. WEIGAND COLONIA ff OUTLAW 20s ff EAST COAST CRIP, 200 ff MYRTLE STREET CRIP - INACTI^&VEST BOULEVARD CRIP 64 5. BLYTHE STREET IBST13), PANORATVIJSTH STREET, 54-TH STREET AREA WATTS (SS WCW 13) s PACOIMA PiRuSf EAST SIDE CRIPS-INACTIVE ff NBGC # WEST COVINA NH CRIP 6. BOYS FROM THE HOOD - WESTSIDE - WATTS ff PARKE NINE BLOODS (DEF*JB«3T SIDE DAWGS ff NEIGHBOR HOOD 90 CRIP ** WEST SIDE MAFIA 7. BROWN PRIDE RAZA (BPP), NORTHS. ISTH STREET, SMILEY DRIVE, HAUSER35. WATTS VARRIO W PASADENA DENVER LANE ff EAST SIDE HUSTLER CRIP 104,ITCJ^IGHBOR HOOD COMPTON CftfRQUNG ASS PLAYAS RIDGE AREA 9. ISTH STREET, JEFFERSON PARK AREBRAPE (SS WVG) ff PROJECT GANGSTER BLO®I5AST SIDE HUSTLER CRI.PIIS, HQ^JEIGHBOR HOOD CRIP I06, lO£ AKRHO PINOY (AKP) 8. BROWN PRIDE SURENOS (BPS), IO. EASY RIDERS (ERS), WEST ADAMS - WATTS ff PUEBLO BISHOPS 52 ff EAST SIDE PLAYERS, 97 t NEIGHBOR HOOD CRIP 115 2. ASIAN BOYZ. VAN NUYS (AB^ljORTHRIDGE AREA - 11. FLORENCIA 13. 36. WATTS VILLAGE ff QUEEN STREET BLOOD ff EAST SIDE RIDAS, 64 t NEIGHBOR HOOD CRIP 67 3. GRANADA-HlLLS PlNOY REAL OFBRYANT STREET, NORTHRIDGE ArtEAHARPYS IHPS), WEST ADAMS - WESTBOYS (SS VBS) - ff QUEEN STREET BLOOD 76fffflj5BavSlDE RlDAZ, 59 ff NEIGHBOR HOOD CRIP. 111. 112 (w*S^EN SIDE WAH CHING (KWC) IO. CANOGA PARK ALABAMA STREE"BIDE WATTS ff ROLLIN 50S BRIMS « FARM DOG COMTON CRIP ff NEIGHBOR HOOD CRIP, 111, 112 (Efe^EFROX (JFX) CHATTSWORTH AREA 13. HARRYS (HPS), 5TH AVE- WESTSIDE 37. WATTS 13 (WTS 13) ff SAMOAN WARRIORS BOUfsfirF't&lJllWE-ORNER BLOCK CRIP # NEIGHBOR HOOD CRIP, 46 6. JUDAS13 (J13I n. COLUMBUS STREET (CST 13) 14. INTRUDERS (INTS) - WESTSIDE (DE- - WATTS ERS « FOUR DUECE CRIP GANG(W/S)ff NEIGHBOR HOOD CRIP, 55 7. KOREAN MOBSTERS (KM) 12. DEAD END BOYS, PACOIMA AREAFUNCT) 1. CULVER CITY 13 # SCOTT PARK BLOOD ff FOUR LINE DRIVE CRIP « NEIGHBOR HOOD CRIP, 57 S. LUZON VISAYA MOBSTERS (LM&1)HASKEL STREET LOCOS, VAN NuYiS. INTRUDERS (INTS) - WESTSIDE . DRIFTERS ff SCOTTSDALE PIRU ff FRONT HOOD COMPTON CRIP ff NEIGHBOR HOOD CRIP, 59 9. NORTH SIDE SATANAS (STS)i4. HIGH TIMES FAMILIA (CITY OF SAN 16. MARA SALVATRUCHA (MS). WEST . HELMS STREET ff SQUIGGLY LANE GANGSTEJRFRONT STREET CRIP ff NEIGHBOR HOOD CF*G*,NORTH SIDE BAHALA NA GAipigriilNSiMDO} ADAMS AREA . SOTEL 13 ff TREE TOP PIRU ff FUDGE TOWN MAFIA CRIP 105,1STJWOOD BNG) IS. LATIN TIMES PACOIMA (LTP), PACCTNMEXICAN KLAN (MKN), KING BLVD . VENICE 13 ff UJIMA VILLAGE BLOODS ff GANGSTER CRIP, lOS ff NEIGHBORHOOD WATTS CRIP "- PINOY BOYS GANG (PBG) AREA AREA - WESTSIDE ff UNTON BRIMS (DEFUNCT) ff GANGSTER CRIP, 118? NESTOR AVE COMPTON CRIP 12. REAL PINOY BROTHERS (RPBIe. LENNOX STREET (LNX 13), VAN NUSSNINOS SURENOS (NSU) - WESTSIDE ff VAN NESS GANGSTER ff GANGSTER CRIP, 42(E/S) ff NOTHING BUT TROUBLE HALLDIS^&EOUL BOYZ (SBZ) AREA 19. STREET VILLIANS (STV) - WESTSIDE ff VILLAGE TOWN PIRU ff GANGSTER CRIP, 43 CRIP 14. TAU GAMMA PINOY (TGP) 17. MARA SALVATRUCHA IMS), 20. TINY INSANE KRIMINALS (TlK) ff WATER FRONT PIRU . ff GANGSTERCRIP. 43 SS ff NUTTY BLOCC COMPTON CRIP 15. TEMPLE STREET (TST) "PINOYIS. NORTH HOLLYWOODBOYZ (NHBZWESTSIDE ff WEIRDOZ BLOOD « GANGSTER CRIP. 47 S ff ORIGINAL BLOCC CRIP GANG LOCOS" NORTH HOLLYWOOD AREA 21, UNOS SIN VERGUENZA (USV) pi City's policy for financing street lighting requires adjoining -property owners to bear the annual cost of operation and main tenance through a special assessment levied against each prop erty which benefits from the Street Lighting System.
Street gangs have maintained that authority because of two factors. First, the city's policy for financingstree t lighting requires adjoining property owners to bear the annual cost of operation and maintenance through a special assessment levied against each property which benefits from the Street Lighting System. This creates a huge disadvantage for neighborhoods such as Watts, where the majority of residents live close or below the poverty line and many houses are not owner occupied. Second, there is a significant lack of traditional public space - parks, plazas, etc. Most of the existing public spaces are unsafe and territorized by street gangs.
So the question becomes how does the police station respond? 4. PROPOSAL This thesis proposes that the answer lies in appropriating models of publicness that already exist and even thrive in gang infested neighborhoods as the way to re-conceptualize how the police operate. Responses to the oppressive nature of this environment are significant forms of, what I'm calling, identity assertions through spatial activity. These are essentially expressions of self like music, fashion, graffiti or dance. They create their own models of publicness that are defined both by the activity itself and their ability to temporarily invade spaces that already have an assignation. One such model and the focus here is the phenomenon of clown or krump dancing. Clown and krump are similar urban African-American freestyle dance that arose spontaneously in the late 1990s in neighborhoods across South Central Los Angeles and Long Beach. Both exist in opposition to street violence and commonly referred to as growing out of the catastrophic violence inflicted on the same neighborhoods by the 1965 and 1992 riots. It is characterized by extremely fast and jarring body movements. It is significant because it essentially acts as a non-violent gang, with individuals forming families or groups, and congregating in already assigned space. Clown and Krump identities get played out spatially as groups appropriate various types of urban space for their use. A courtyard becomes a stage, a playground a battle zone, etc. Space becomes, at least temporarily, territorized as communal. This lends us the ability to move away fromthinkin g of the police station as an isolated structure to something that coexists with other programs, like a non-violent invasive species. The main formal strategy is to conceptualize the police program an armature or physical infrastructure that generates a 'reciprocal infiltration' - with the police infiltrating the surrounding neighborhood and the in turn the neighborhood starts to seep into the building. The hope is that through the development of these ideas in a design proposal a new typology of police station emerges that situates itself as an interface between police and populus. sv — «i
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
Abu-Lughod, Janet L. Rare. Spare and Riots: in Chicago. New York and T.os Angeles. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. Rare. Snare, and Riots documents major racial riots in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. The riots are described according to exact chronology including buildup and aftermaths of the events. It also provides primary sources for information.
Banham, Reyner. Tns Angeles: Thp. Architecture of Four Fcoloyips. London: University of California Press, 2001.2nd ed. Reyner Banham analyzes the built environment of Los Angeles in terms of ecologies of architectures, which he terms Surfurbia, Plains of Id, Foothills, and Autopia. Banham's book was one of the first urban or architectural investigations of the city that looked at it in a positive light. It also provided a backbone for further discussions of the city, and almost all texts written after this (first published in 1971) refer to it in some context.
Borden, Iain, Joe Kerr, Jane Rendell with Alicia Pivaro, eds. The Unknown Citv: Contesting Architecture and Social Snare. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001.
Cannon, Lou. Official Negligence. New York: Times Books, 1997.
Collins, Keith E. Rlack T.os Angelps: Thp. Maturing of thp. Ohptto. iQ/in-iQt;n. Saratoga: Century Twenty One Publishing, 1980.
Crongeyer, Sven. Sj^^m^jojujd^^TJieJiJajJyjJis^jrvjjfjh^e^js^n^eJe^ Fresno: Linden Publishing, 2006.
Crump, Spencer. Black Riots in T.os Angeles. Los Angeles: Trans-Anglo Books, 1966. Crump documents the 1965 Watts riots in this book, which contains reproductions of primary texts and images, as well as a printing of the McCone report, the official document from the city government assessing the failures that contributed to the eruption of violence.
Crump, Spencer. Ride the Big Red Cars: thp Pacific F.lpctric Storv fllendale CA: Trans-Anglo Books, 1988. Spencer Crump documents the history of the Pacific Electric Railway and its relationship to the city of Los Angeles. The book includes reproductions of contemporary advertisements, system maps from different points of development and routes. It also includes a chapter discussing the dismantling of the urban rail system to make way for the automobile.
Davis, Mike. Citv of Quartz: Excavating thp Future of T.os Angeles. London: Verso, 1990.
Davis, Mikp. Ecology of Fear: T.os Angeles and thp Imagination of Disaster. NPW York: Metropolitan Books, 1998. Dunn, William. The Gangs of T.os Angeles. Lincoln: iUniverse, Inc., 2007.
Gongrich, Erik. Starving for F.mharrassing Architecture: T,os Angeles. pnnA. Revolver, 2004. This book is a collection of photographs of the city of Los Angeles and reproductions of original art created by the author, an artist in residence for one year in Los Angeles.
Fogelson, Robert M. ed. Mass Violence in America: The Los Angeles Riots. New York; Arno Press & the New York Times, 1969. Mass Violence graphically documents the events and histories of the 1965 Watts rights. The book is supplemented by first hand accounts, reproductions of original photographs and newspaper articles, as well as maps detailing the damage and violence.
Herbert, Steve. Policing Snace: Territoriality fr the T.os Angeles Police Department. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997. This book discussed the relationship between territoriality and the construction of identity as a Los Angeles Police Officer. Each chapter focuses on separate factors contributing to the association of identity and territoriality, including bureaucratic orders, morality and issues of masculinity/conquest of space.
Hutchinson, Sikivn. Imagining Transit: Race. Gentler, and Transportation Politics in T.os Angeles. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2OO3. Hutchinson examines the historical relationship and structures between race and gender and transportation in Los Angeles. The book has an overarching focus particularly on African American women and public transportation, but also discusses issues such as bus transportation, issues of driving as an African American and whiteness and the city. Hutchinson draws from fiction and nonfiction sources on Los Angeles to construct and illustrate her argument.
Jencks, Charles. Heteronolis. London: Academy Editions, 1993.
Kay, Jane Holts. Asnhalt Nation: How the Automobile Took Over America and How We Can Take Tt Rack. New York: Crown Publishers, 1997- Kay examines how the automobile has infiltrated all aspects of American life over the course of the last one hundred years. The book documents the history of the automobile in relationship to the detriment of public transportation systems that are, predominantly, no longer efficient. Kay also offers strategies for overcoming our automobile-dependency, suggesting that making a radical change in the way we move is possible, but requires the political will to do so.
Katz, Samuel M. LAPP. Osceola: Motorbooks International, 1997.
Klein, Norman. This History of Forgetting: T.os Angeles and the Erasure of Memory. New York: Verso, 1997.
Klein, Norman M. and Martin J. Schiesl, ed. 2QH> Cenrnrv Los Angeles: Power. Promotion fr Social Conflicts. Claremont: Regina Books, 1990.
Lipsitz, George. "Cruising around the Hegemonic Bloc: Postmodernism and Popular Music in East Los Angeles." Cultural Critique, no. 5, Modernity and Modernism, Postmodernity and Postmodernism (Winter 1986-1987), pp. 157-177. Picon, Antoine. Architecture, Science, Technology, and the Virtual Realm. Arrhitertnre and the Sr.ipinr.fts: Exchanging Metaphors. Antoine Picon & Allessandra Ponte, ed. Princeton: Princeton Architectural Press, 2003. P. 292-313. This book is a collection of essays dealing with the implications of science on architecture and the relationship between them. This article, in particular, discusses the development of "the virtual realm', what that is, and what implications it has for thinking about architectural space.
Rodger, Richard & Joanna Herbert, ed. Testimonies of the City: Tdentitv. Community and Changes in a Cnntemnorarv World. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing, 2007. "Testimonies" is a series of articles discussing the city, identity and public space in major cities around the world.
Rose, Tricia. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America. Hanover: University of New England Press, 1994. Rose documents the history and evolution of hip-hop and rap music in major American cities. She draws from popular music to pull out arguments about racial stereotypes, gender, social and political implications, and hip-hop/raps position in the greater trajectory and history of African American music.
Shapira, Nathan. Los Angeles: The Search for Identity. Spagnoli, Lorenzo, ed. T.os Angeles. Rome: Guis, Laterza & Figili Spa, 1997. Pages 169-203. This article pulls out a wide range of architectural and vernacular buildings as a way to document the ranging possibilities of defining and architectural identity for the city. It supplements the whole collection of articles by systematically listing and analyzing the different areas of town and their buildings.
Shaw, William. West Side: Ynnng Men fr Hin Hon in T.A. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.
Soja, Edward. Los Angeles as a Postmodern Metropolis. Spagnoli, Lorenzo, ed. T.ns Angeles. Rome: Guis, Laterza & Figili Spa, 1997. Pages 45-61. Edward Soja, as a way to further his definition of a Postmodern metropolis, expands upon Reyner Banham's classification of the city into four ecologies. Here, twenty years later, Soja argues that within Los Angeles there exists more types of ecologies of cities than just these four classifications, due to numerous factors. The six new ecologies he defines include the fortress city, the globalized city, the depleted fordist city, edge city and a social polarizing city.
Soja, Edward. Tjjjj^2Djjj£ij£urji£xSJ{lii}S^IlS£l£S^ Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1996. Thirrisnace attempts to expand the scope and practical relevance of how we think about space and how it relates to things such as location, landscape, architecture, environment, city and geography. Spatiality is either seen as concrete material forms to be mapped, analyzed, and explained; or as mental constructs, ideas about and representations of space and its social significance. Soja critically re-evaluates this dualism to create an alternative approach, one that comprehends both the material and mental dimensions of spatiality but also extends beyond them to new and different modes of spatial thinking.
Spagnoli, Lorenzo. Design and Difference^ Introduction to the Urban History and Architecture of Los Angeles. Spagnoli, Lorenzo, ed. I/is Angeles. Rome: Guis, Laterza & Figili Spa, 1997. Pages 9-44. This article is the first in the collection of essays and offers a brief historical analysis of the history of Los Angeles and ifs architecture. It covers political urban development decisions as well as touching on canonical architects and their important works in the Los Angeles area. Steiner, Rodnev. T,os Angeles: The Centrifugal City, Toronto: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 1981.
Tafuri, Manfredo. Architecture and TTtonia. Design and Capitalist Development. Translated by Barbara Luigia La Penta. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1976. 7th edition 1990. Tafuri discusses the relationship between architecture and society and the position of the architect in the capitalist workforce. He also discusses the place of the avant-garde in the arts and prospects of alternatives.
Vargas, Joao H. Costa, Catching Hell in the Citv of Angels: T.ife and Meanings of Blackness in Smith Central Tns Angeles. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2006. Delivered primarily from first hand accounts from living in the inner city, Vargas discusses various constructions of what in means to be black living in South Central Los Angeles.
Watts, Paul. "Revisiting the 1992 Los Angeles Riots: An Analysis of Geographical Perspectives." Thesis, Louisiana State University, 2003. Source for: Anderson, Stuart, et al. An Atlas of South-Central I.os Angeles. Claremont, CA: The Rose Institute of State and Local Government, Claremont McKenna College, 1992. This thesis examines the geographical nature of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Watts proposes that the nature of the riots has a geographic logic that corresponds to cultural and ethnic tensions in the area.
WEBSITES
County of Los Angeles, Department of Public Works, Land Records Information httn: //dnwgis.c.o.la:cii.iis/wehsite/siirvevrec.ord /main.cfm
Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California httn: //www.erha org
Engineering Records, County Maps httT)://wwwengineeringrerorflspom/roiinrvnoveTTirnent/T.A-Co-Sarnnle-Mans/Manshtrn
Krnmn Kings httn://www krnmnkings com
Los Angeles Public Library, Resources and Guides httn: / /www.lanl .org /resources/guides /tract mans /tract mans.html
Los Angeles Police Department http://www.lapdonline.org Los Angeles Sheriff Department http://www.lasd.org
T™ ATIPPIPS TimPS httn://www latimps rnm
Social Explorer http: //sorialexnlorer.com
Street gangs blip: //www.strRRtyan^S-mrn
Tommy the Clown Entertainment httrv//wwwtnmmvtl1Rf-lnwn mm/
UCLA, Reference Collection Online, Maps & GIS, Los Angeles Area httr)://www.lihrarv.iifrla.Rfln/vrl/refRrpnr:/rpo/gengrar)hiVhtml
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
Gootman, Elissa. "In Bronx School, Culture Shock, Then Revival." New York Times. February 8, 2008
Helfand, Duke. "L.A.'s troubled Watts neighborhood is now site of home-construction boom." Los Angeles Times, January 27,2008.
Reinhold, Robert. "Rebuilding Lags in Los Angeles a Year After Riots." New York Times, May 10,1993.
Trebay, Guy. "The Clowning, Wilding out Battle Dancers of South Central LA." New York Times. J une 19,2005
DIGITAL MEDIA
Rize. DVD. 2004
Peter Jennings Reporting: LAPD. ABC News, DVD. 2007