Are Gang Injunctions a Tool for Gentrification? The Case of the Glendale Corridor Gang Injunction By Jennifer Quevedo B.A in Urban Studies and Planning University of California San Diego San Diego, California (2014) Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE Master in City Planning OF TECHNOLOGY at the JUN 2 3 2016 MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY LIBRARIES June 2016 ARCHIVES C 2016 Jennifer Quevedo. All Rights Reserved The author hereby grants to MIT the permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of the thesis document in whole or in part in any medium nw known or hereafter created. Signature redacted Author (- Department of Urban Studies and Planning Signature redacted (date of signing) Certified by _ Assistant Professor Justin Steil Department of Urban Studies and Planning Thesis Supervisor Signature redacted Accepted by ias te rofessor P. Christopher Zegras Chair, MCP Committee Department of Urban Studies and Planning 1 Are Gang Injunctions a Tool for Gentrification? The Case of the Glendale Corridor Gang Injunction By Jennifer Quevedo Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning on May 19th, 2016 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master in City Planning ABSTRACT My research aims to understand the connections between police practices, court decisions, and gentrification, and focuses on the Glendale Corridor Gang Injunction. The injunction encompasses both the Silver Lake and Echo Park community, but mostly is in the Echo Park neighborhood. Echo Park is a community in LA that has undergone significant demographic changes in the past ten years. Local organizers and residents repeatedly questioned the function of the injunction in an area where crime has been decreasing and the neighborhood is increasingly attracting young white professionals. Indeed, residents critiquing the injunction are also addressing the tension arising from gentrification and the displacement of low-income communities of color across Los Angeles, like many other cities in the U.S. Through both qualitative interviews and statistical analyses I investigate the motivations for pursuing the Glendale Corridor Injunction, the connection between the injunction and demographic changes, and the effects the injunction has for people on the ground. The research leads to a conclusion that while gang injunctions are not motivated primarily by gentrification, the fear of displacement and over policing communities of color is not mutually exclusive. Both gentrification and gang injunctions have negative impacts on community member's sense of belonging in their own community. Thesis Committee: Justin Steil and J. Phillip Thompson 2 Acknowledgements For my grandmother Mary L. Rodriguez and mother Nellie Quevedo: "Grandmother the alchemist you spun gold out of this hard life conjured beauty from the things left behind found healing where it did not live discovered the antidote in your own kitchen broke a curse with your own two hands you passed these instructions down to your daughter who then passed it down to her daughter". For my immigrant father, Jorge Quevedo, whose shoulders I have the privilege of standing on. Soy producto de la inmigracion. For mi familia and chosen family. Thank you for giving me love, life, and support. For the Students of Color Committee. Thank you for helping me hold it down these past two years. For my thesis committee, gracias por su apoyo. 3 Table of Contents A cknow ledgem ents..........................................................................................3 Introduction ............................................................................................. .. 5 M ethodology ............................................................................................. ..8 L iterature R eview ......................................................................................... 12 History of Gang Injunctions............................................................................20 History of Echo Park and Silver Lake Neighborhoods ............................ 28 Interview F indings..........................................................................................34 Statistical Findings...................................................................................... 45 C onclusion ............................................................................................... .57 A ppendix ............................................................................................... 60 W ork s C ited ................................................................................................ 64 4 Introduction The recent shootings of unarmed black men and women by police officers have brought national attention to police brutality. Organizers at the forefront of this movement are advocating for the humanity and dignity of black lives. Intimately connected to police brutality has been the critique of city planning and urban policy. The killing of Mike Brown in the summer of 2014 highlighted the role that planning policy has played in creating racially segregated neighborhoods and breeding racial hostility (Rothstein, 2014). In the wake of Ferguson, planning as a discipline has been forced to reckon with the broader ramifications of planning policies that support state violence against black communities and other communities of color. Planning decisions have not only created racially segregated neighborhoods, but have also shaped police tactics for cracking down on crime. The "broken windows" theory of policing, based on a popular 1982 article in The Atlantic by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling, has impacted the way police forces across the nation have addressed issues of crime in neighborhoods of color. Wilson and Kelling argued that urban residents assign a high-value to public order and that visual signs of disorder, such as broken windows, graffiti, or aggressive panhandlers, convey a sense of disorder and leads residents to be more fearful, discourages residents from using public spaces, breaks down community controls and contributes to increases in crime. Beginning in New York, broken windows policing strategies have created tough-on- crime, zero-tolerance polices that seek to regulate low-level offenses in order to prevent more violent crimes. As a result, low-income communities have been over-criminalized and young men of color have been systematically funneled into the criminal justice system. These tough on crime policies have become headline stories in Los Angeles recently because of the use of civil gang injunctions. A gang injunction is a "civil court order that 5 prohibits a gang and its members from conducting certain specified activities within a defined geographic area known as a 'safety zone' ("Important Facts to Know About Gang Injunctions," n.d.). Listed on the gang injunctions is a list of criminal and non-criminal activities that are prohibited within a safety zone. In Los Angeles, common restrictions include: "do not associate with other gang members, do not use gang hand signs and/or wear gang colors and attire, do not use, possess, sell or transport illegal drugs, do not drink or possess alcohol, do not own, use or possess any dangerous or deadly weapons, do not commit graffiti/vandalism and/or possess graffiti/vandalism tools, do not intimidate, threaten or harass people" ("Important Facts to Know About Gang Injunctions," n.d.). A violation of this order is punishable by up to six months in jail or juvenile hall and/or a $1,000 fine ("Important Facts to Know About Gang Injunctions," n.d.). Proponents of gang injunctions have argued that gang injunctions are put in place to reduce violent crimes. However, it has been contended by community members and local activists that gang injunctions tear families and communities apart, further marginalizes communities from accessing resources, and serves as an effective tool for displacement and gentrification. The Los Angeles City Attorney ("City Attorney") filed the first gang injunction in 1987 against the Play Boy Gangsta Crips gang in West LA. Since then, the City Attorney has filed 45 more injunctions throughout the city. Law Enforcement and the City Attorney's office have applauded gang injunctions as a quick reliable fix to violent street gangs. The largest gang injunction targeted the Blythe Street gang in 1993 and cited nearly 500 alleged gang members (ACLU, 1997). In 2013, the City Attorney filed the Glendale Corridor Gang Injunction against 6 rival gangs in the area (Big Top Locos, Crazy, Diamond Street Locos, Echo Park Locos, Frogtown and Head Hunters). Grassroots organizations and residents opposed the injunction, arguing that 6 the City Attorney and the Los Angeles Police Department ("LAPD") were overstepping their powers and creating an environment where "more young people are being stopped, frisked, harassed, and labeled as gang members" ("Activists and law enforcement square off over gang injunctions," 2013). Opponents have voiced many concerns, for instance, pointing out that the injunction is 15 years too late as it is being implemented at a time when crime rates have reached historic lows. Local organizers and residents repeatedly questioned the function of the injunction in an area where crime has been decreasing and the neighborhood is increasingly attracting young white professionals. Indeed, residents critiquing the injunction