Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses Fall 1-4-2017 Out in "The Numbers": Youth and Gang Violence Initiatives and Uneven Development in Portland's Periphery Dirk Kinsey Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Geography Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Kinsey, Dirk, "Out in "The Numbers": Youth and Gang Violence Initiatives and Uneven Development in Portland's Periphery" (2017). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 3365. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.5256 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. Out in “The Numbers”: Youth and Gang Violence Initiatives and Uneven Development in Portland’s Periphery by Dirk Kinsey A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Geography Thesis Committee: Barbara Brower, Chair Hunter Shobe Nathan McClintock Portland State University 2016 © 2016 Dirk Kinsey Abstract Incidence of youth and gang violence in the Portland, Oregon metro area has increased dramatically over the past five years. This violence has recently become more spatially diffuse, shifting outwards from gentrified, inner city neighborhoods, towards the city’s periphery. These incidents exist within the context of a shifting regional political economy, characterized by a process of gentrification associated displacement and growing, and distinctly racicalized and spatialized, inequalities. While gang researchers have long argued a corollary between the emergence of gangs and economically and culturally polarized urban landscapes, the ongoing suburbanization of poverty in American cities suggests a new landscape of uneven power differentials playing out between disenfranchised youth and those seeking to police and prevent violence. This paper provides a critical examination of how local agencies charged with addressing youth and gang violence are responding to shifts in the landscape of violence and navigating the inequitable distribution of wealth and resources in the “progressive” city. Drawing on interviews conducted with police, policy makers and gang outreach workers, I investigate both perceptions of gentrification’s role in youth and gang violence and the spacialities of emerging enforcement and prevention efforts. My findings suggest that prevention and enforcement efforts frequently rely on techniques and models designed to replicate conditions in older, gentrified neighborhoods, while perhaps unwittingly reifying existing inequalities. Ultimately, I hope to reveal some of the links, both at macro- i structural levels and those of daily practice, between a shifting political economy and emerging forms of suburban policing. ii Dedication This thesis is dedicated to those who have lost their lives to youth and gang violence in Multnomah County and to the families and communities who continue to live with those losses. iii Acknowledgements Many people have helped bring this project to fruition. Firstly, I must acknowledge the support of my family through my schooling. They have, and continue, to encourage me on this path that I have chosen for myself, regardless of how long and circuitous it may be. Dr. Barbara Brower has been immensely patient and supportive in this process and has always provided me with thoughtful and challenging feedback. Without her this project would have never seen the light of day. Dr. Hunter Shobe has always taken the time to offer feedback and guided and supported me through the writing process. Dr. Nathan McClintock served to push me in directions that challenged my pre-conceptions and deepened my analysis at every turn. I am extremely thankful to all of them. iv Table of Contents Abstract ……………………………………………………………………i Dedication ……………………………………………………...…………iii Acknowledgements.……………………………………………………... iv List of Tables …….……………………………...……………………….vii List of Figures..……...…………………………………………………...viii List of Abbreviations …………………………………………………......ix Introduction….………………………………………………………… ….1 Chapter I: Understanding Gangs in Context ……………………………..10 Defining Gangs………………………………………………………… ..10 Gangs Historically ………………………………………………………12 The Growth of US Gangs in the Twentieth Century.............................. 14 The Emergence of West Coast Gangs…………,….…………………. 15 Gangs and the Contemporary Urban Context...…….…………………… 22 Chapter II: Gangs and Geographies of Urban Inequity……………..........25 Why are there gangs? …………………………………………………….25 Social Disorganization …………………………………………………26 The Adaptation Model …………………………………………………27 Geographies of Urban Inequity ………………………………………….29 Uneven Development ………………………………………………….30 Restructuring of Urban Economics and Governance …………………32 Planning Histories ……………………………………………………...36 Chapter III: Chapter 3: Policing and Social Service Provisions …………38 Geographies of Policing ………………………………………………..40 Social Service Provisions, “The Shadow State”, and Local Governance………………………………………………….45 Chapter IV: Geographies of Poverty and Race, and the Emergence of Gangs in Multnomah County …………………………………………..48 Multnomah County’s Gang Geographies as Geographies of Poverty and Race ……………………………………………………48 Albina …………………………………………………………………..48 The Columbia Villa Projects …………………………………………...51 East Portland & Gresham ……………………………………...............53 v The Emergence of Gangs and Gang Control in Multnomah County …..55 Chapter V:Findings ………………………………………………………62 County and Municipal Institutions……………………………………….63 Social Service Providers………………………………………………….65 Law Enforcement……………………………………………… ………...66 Coordination and Collaboration ………………………………………….68 Coordination and Collaboration, and the Improved Ability to Provide Services……………………………………………………..71 Coordination and Collaboration as Spatial Control ……………………72 Community Participation .……………………………………………...75 Discussion ……………………………………………………………...80 Relocation………………………………………………………………...82 Mapping…………….…………………………………………………..86 Discussion………………………………………………………………89 Perceptions of Gentrification……………………………………………..91 Disruption of Violence Prevention Efforts …………………………….92 Disruption of Existing gang Structures ………………………………...94 Disruption of Neighborhood Social Structure………………………….96 Discussion………………………………………………………………97 Chapter VI: Conclusion………………………………………………....100 References ………………………………………………………………105 Appendices A. Methods……………………………………………………………115 B. Multnomah County Gangs as listed in the Multnomah County Comprehensive Gang Assessment, 2014……………………………..122 C. Human Subjects Review Approval ………………………………..124 vi List of Tables Table 1. Service Providers Mentioned by Respondents………………….83 vii List of Figures Figure 1. Density of "Shots Fired" Calls for Service in Multnomah County ………………………………………………………..2 Figure 2. Enough is Enough PDX Billboard…………………………….78 viii List of Abbreviations EMGET East Multnomah Gang Enforcement Team FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation GET Gang Enforcement Team GIFT Gang Impacted Families Team GRIT Gang Resource Intervention Team JJD Juvenile Justice Department LPSSC Local Public Safety Coordinating Council OJJDP Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention OYVP Office of Youth Violence Prevention POIC Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center PPB Portland Police Bureau RENEW Rockwood/Rosewood Enrichment Neighborhood Enforcement Workgroup SACSI Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative, locally know, as STACS SLGOW Street Level Gang Outreach Workers STRYVE Striving to Reduce Youth violence Everywhere ICE U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Immigration and Customs Enforcement YGSF Youth Gang Strike Force ix Introduction The headline of the May 30th, 2015 Oregonian puts into sharp relief a dynamic that has been bubbling just below the surface of public awareness in Portland: “Last Thursday shootings: At the epicenter of Portland's changes, tensions between old and new, residents and tourists” (Park 2015, n.p.). The shooting, at a popular outdoor arts event in Northeast Portland, on what has been regarded as a thoroughly gentrified street, NE Alberta, came as a surprise. The shooter, a teenager who lived in neighboring suburb, but with family ties to the neighborhood, was sixteen years old. He fired at a stranger who, he would later state, he thought was “eying him” (Park 2015,n.p.), missing him and hitting two fifteen-year-old boys and a twenty-five-year- old woman. The “tensions” in the title were manifested in the actions of customers at an upscale ice cream parlor. Images of couples taking selfies with police tape in the background and the vocal complaints of patrons over the police’s insistence that the business close shop temporarily became the fodder for social media indignation (Park 2015). These responses reflected ambivalence to the lives of those involved in the shooting and a perceived lack of historical context. This incident became an illustration of the way in which the gains of gentrification had not been experienced evenly throughout the community. 1 Figure 1. Density of "Shots Fired" Calls for Service in Multnomah County (Local Public Safety Coordinating Council 2014) Nearly a year later a second shooting provides further insight into violence plaguing the Portland area: A birthday party at the Rosewood Initiative Community Center was interrupted by gunfire