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Boyle Heights A RESEARCH SERIES OF THE PAT BROWN INSTITUTE AT CAL STATE LA IN FOCUS: BOYLE HEIGHTS Community Engagement through Participatory Mapping: Community Safety in Boyle Heights ellen shiau PhD IN FOCUS IN FOCUS is a research series of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State LA, covering in depth timely issues of concern to neighborhoods, communities, and beyond throughout the greater Los Angeles region. ABOUT THE PAT BROWN INSTITUTE ABOUT BUILDING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES The Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs, a presiden- Building Healthy Communities is The California Endow- tially-chartered institute at California State University, ment’s ten-year, $1 billion comprehensive community Los Angeles, is dedicated to the quest for social justice initiative that is creating a revolution in the way Cali- and equality of opportunity, enlightened civic engage- fornians think about and support health in their com- ment, and an enhanced quality of life for all Californians. munities. In 14 places across California, residents are The Institute is a non-partisan public policy center proving that they have the power to make health happen committed to sustaining the vision and legacy of former in their neighborhoods, schools and with preven- California Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown through tion—and in doing so, they’re creating a brighter fu- convening public policy forums, engaging multi-sector ture for their children and for our state. stakeholders and diverse communities, and conducting Building Healthy Communities has a simple strategy: timely policy research and community-driven initiatives. work on a local scale to create broad, statewide impact. Where we live, our race, and our income each play a big part in how well and how long we live. We need to re- shape the places that shape us—our neighborhoods. Parents want to raise their children in neighborhoods with safe parks and quality schools, but many Califor- nians don’t get to choose where they live. Because the differences between neighborhoods are linked to differ- ences in health outcomes, The California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities initiative includes a deep investment in place. Building Healthy Communities partnered with 14 places in the state representing California’s rich diversity. Boyle Heights Central Santa Ana Central/Southeast/Southwest Fresno City Heights Del Norte County Adjacent Tribal Lands Eastern Coachella Valley East Oakland East Salinas (Alisal) Long Beach Richmond Sacramento South Los Angeles South Kern Southwest Merced/East Merced County A RESEARCH SERIES OF THE PAT BROWN INSTITUTE AT CAL STATE LA IN FOCUS: BOYLE HEIGHTS Community Engagement through Participatory Mapping: Community Safety in Boyle Heights Ellen Shiau PhD Goals and Objectives of This Report Professor n This brief presents a case study of public safety in Boyle Cal State LA Heights to explore the potential prospects for community participatory mapping approaches as alternatives to tradi- tional crime mapping methods. Participatory mapping in- volves processes in which community stakeholders partici- pate in mapping activities to provide local knowledge and challenge traditional decision making. Such approaches, which can utilize innovations in mapping technology, call for a greater role for communities in contributing to policy re- search, solutions, and advocacy in community health issues. Key Recommendations n Participatory mapping can be used as a tool to engage communities in understanding and contributing to com- munity health to develop more responsive, equitable, and community-supported policy solutions. n Participatory mapping utilizing innovations in mapping technology requires adequate community capacity in terms of computer and Internet access, computer and data literacy, and the cultivation of effective community facilitators to guide participatory processes. n Governments using innovations in mapping technology should continue to develop user-friendly interfaces and applications to engage the public, while also taking steps to ensure the accuracy and transparency of the data provided. n Most important, for participatory processes to have a meaningful impact, public and private institutions must reflect a political commitment to incorporate participatory practices into broader decision-making processes. IN FOCUS: Boyle Heights INTRODUCTION and planning decisions to ensure that outcomes are equitable and responsive to community concerns. Community health entails the well-being of a community shaped not only by individual choices Today, Boyle Heights is particularly known for its and behaviors but also by social, economic and political vibrant community organizations that not only play contexts. Thus, the determinants of community health an active role in shaping community outcomes but have expanded to encompass not only health care, also frequently represent varied perspectives. For ex- but also housing, employment, the built environment, ample, in recent years, the changing nature of the cultural norms, transportation systems, and public Boyle Heights community, such as occurred with the safety (Norris & Pittman, 2000). This policy brief ex- extension of the Metro Gold Line in 2012, has plores the capacity of local communities to contribute spurred considerable community concern regarding to policy research, solutions and advocacy in commu- gentrification and residential displacement, with nity health issues. It uses a case study of public safety community perspectives ranging from aggressive in Boyle Heights to explore community participatory opposition to development to cautious optimism mapping when community stakeholders—as opposed (Carroll, 2016; Mejia, 2016). Moreover, historically to technical or policy experts—participate in mapping and also in recent years, such law enforcement prac- activities to provide local knowledge, and challenge tices as police use of force have been criticized by traditional discourse and decision-making processes. minority communities, including recently in Boyle Participatory mapping can be used as a tool to engage Heights (Mejías-Rentas, 2016). communities in understanding and contributing to To contribute to discussions of community health community health with the goal of developing more and safety in Boyle Heights, this policy brief explores responsive, equitable, and community-supported the prospects for community engagement through policy solutions. participatory mapping practices of community safety issues as an alternative to traditional crime mapping Community engagement in approaches. It suggests a greater role for communities in contributing to the understanding of community policy and planning is increasingly safety issues and the development of policy responses seen as important to ensure that supported by innovations in mapping technology outcomes are equitable and and the government “open data” movement, while recognizing the challenges of participatory processes responsive to community concerns. and the importance of support from public and pri- vate institutions. Historically, minority communities—such as in the Public safety continues to be a salient issue in urban Eastside Los Angeles community of Boyle Heights— neighborhoods as neighborhood conditions—includ- have suffered from traditional policy and planning ing social interactions and relationships, peer influ- decision-making processes that failed to sufficiently ences, crime, and violence—significantly affect the engage community residents. For example, despite life outcomes of neighborhood residents (Ellen & community opposition, decisions in the 1950s and Turner, 1997). Significant debate exists, however, re- 1960s led to the construction of a disproportionate garding the most appropriate means to increase number of major freeways in Boyle Heights that vivi- community safety. Policy researchers of community sected the community, displaced residents and created safety must tread cautiously not only to avoid repeat- serious public health impacts (Estrada, 2005; Avila, ing past mistakes but also to recognize that policy 2014). Since then, there has been greater recognition prescriptions embody value-based judgments that can of the importance of community engagement in policy entail contested community impacts. Participatory 2 cal state la Community Engagement through Participatory Mapping: Boyle Heights mapping can be one way to engage varied community Finally, this report concludes with a discussion of the interests and perspectives with the goal of developing necessary community and government capacities to more responsive, community-supported policy solu- support the incorporation of participatory processes in tions. decision-making processes as well as other potential opportunities for community engagement through participatory mapping. In particular, participatory Traditional approaches to mapping utilizing innovations in mapping technology mapping crime may limit our requires the strengthening of community capacity in terms of computer and Internet access, computer and understanding of the complex data literacy, and the cultivation of effective commu- factors that shape these patterns, nity facilitators to guide participatory processes. and the range of possible policy In addition to community capacities, adequate gov- responses. ernment capacities are necessary to foster participa- tory decision-making processes that can effect sys- temic change. Governments exploring innovations This policy brief first traces the history of crime map- in
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