Leap on Public Safety After L.A.’s Leadership Transition

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Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare Jorja Leap spoke to the Los Angeles Times about how to address rising rates of gun violence, one of several issues that the next L.A. mayor will face. While some city leaders have expressed a desire to reform the duties of the Los Angeles Police Department, including moving away from armed responses to certain calls, the city is facing a surge in homicides and gun violence. As of July 3, homicides had increased by nearly 41% compared to the same period in 2019 and the number of shooting victims increased by nearly 40% in the same period. Leap expressed concern that the gun violence could spark a public backlash against community policing programs and partnerships with gang intervention workers. “What terrifies me is that people will say, ‘Crime is increasing, we’ve got to stop this,’” Leap said. “And they’ll go back to the bad old days of command-and-control policing.”

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Trust Is Easily Shattered, Leap Says

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Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare Jorja Leap appeared on a Fox11 News panel discussion about the growing fight for social justice in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and other Black victims of police brutality. Watching the cell phone video of Floyd’s final moments was like “watching a home movie that I was sorry to see,” Leap said. “Why are we watching this again and again?” Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of Floyd’s murder, but the fight against systemic racism continues. “What was so upsetting about recent events and what happened in Minneapolis that had affected people here is that trust is so easily shattered,” Leap said. “We need real change … so that people can feel safe.” The panel discussion took place after an episode of the documentary series “Rising Up” that focused on parallels between the Floyd case and the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police.

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Leap Explains Increased Violence During Lockdown

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Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare Jorja Leap spoke to California Healthline about the spike in homicide rates in California during the pandemic. An increase in conflict among young adults, including gang activity, and the closure of schools, sports and community programs led to an increase in violence that disproportionately affected Black and Latino communities. “The sports after school — football, basketball, whatever it might be — all that is stopped,” Leap said. “So, frankly, you got a lot of adolescent and young adult energies out there.” She also noted that pandemic-fueled anxiety and isolation corresponded with a huge increase in gun sales, which further contributed to the rise in violence. As California slowly reopens, Leap said, it will take a broad effort to bolster jobs and education, along with short-term intervention aimed at those still hurting from the pandemic, to improve the social conditions that contributed to the increase in homicides.

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Heavy-Handed Charges Don’t Decrease Crime, Leap Says

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Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare Jorja Leap was featured in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report about the dropping of charges against an Augusta man who had been detained for nearly two years. Maurice Franklin had been accused of taking part in a 2019 gang-related drive-by shooting in which no one was injured, even though his cellphone data showed that he was 20 minutes away from the crime scene at the time it occurred. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s administration has pushed heavy indictments for all gang-related crimes in the state, including the Franklin case. However, the new measures have been criticized as draconian and unnecessary. “Heavy-handed charging decisions like those made early on in this case haven’t been shown to drive down crime,” Leap said. “They can also lead to further mistrust of police, particularly in communities of color.” All 22 defendants charged in the Augusta case were people of color.

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Partnership Aims to Build Bonds Between Community, Police

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An ABC7 News report on the Los Angeles Police Department’s Community Safety Partnership (CSP) outreach cited a UCLA Luskin report that evaluated the effectiveness of the program. The LAPD launched CSP to address rising tensions between police and the public and build trust within the community. Although the program was initially met with skepticism, officers met with community members to establish trust and transparency. In 2020, Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare Jorja Leap authored a report evaluating the success of the CSP. The report found that the program improved resident perceptions of safety, built trust, helped reduce dangerous conditions, and allowed residents to gather together and enjoy public spaces. It also found that the partnership reduced crime and gang violence and helped prevent homelessness. The report is now being used to endorse the expansion of similar programs.

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Tensions Rising During Pandemic, Leap Says

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Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare Jorja Leap was featured in an NBC News report about the rise in violent crime during the COVID-19 pandemic. After years of remaining steady, gun violence and homicide rates skyrocketed in 2020. Many experts point to tensions associated with the pandemic as the source of increased violence, including unemployment, health concerns and racial tension. People following stay-at-home orders have more idle time, and conflicts are more likely to escalate. “We’ve got people that are under tremendous strain, and quite honestly, sometimes people just snap,” Leap said. Many people are facing joblessness and economic insecurity, and these issues have been exacerbated by conflicts between police and communities of color. “People feel unsafe … because of the mixed picture we are getting of law enforcement that is based in fact, not fiction,” Leap explained. “All of these things contribute to heightened emotions and heightened violence.”

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Leap on Alternative Measures for Promoting Community Safety

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Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare Jorja Leap joined KPCC’s “Take Two” to talk about police and social justice reform in Los Angeles. According to Leap, special units such as gang units are more adversarial than beneficial, making community members feel as though they are being watched. Instead, she pointed to the success of alternative measures like the Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD) Department, in which community interventionists come together and work with residents, families and youth to stem the tide of gang violence. Residents of Los Angeles are anticipating a new relationship between law enforcement and communities of color with the establishment of the Community Safety Partnership Bureau under LAPD Chief Michel Moore, Leap said. “Relationship building is at the core of public safety,” she said, adding that it is important to reconceptualize the role of police as relationship builders partnering with community members — not as enforcers. The segment featuring Leap begins at minute 29.

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Leap on Consequences of Harsh Gang Laws

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Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare Jorja Leap spoke to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the impact of harsh gang laws in Georgia. Maurice Franklin, a 28-year-old father of four with no felony record or prior accusations of violence, is being held without bond after the victim of a drive-by shooting found his Facebook page and said she recognized him. Franklin faces up to 760 years in prison if convicted, despite having multiple alibi witnesses at the time of the crime, which  injured no one. The charges were increased because authorities allege the shooting was gang-related; Franklin denies that he is a gang member or had anything to do with the drive-by shooting. According to Leap, “heavy-handed charging decisions like that haven’t been shown to drive down crime.” She explained that cases like this one can also lead to further mistrust of police, particularly in communities of color. “I think this is a tragic case of prosecutorial overreach,” Leap said.

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Leap on the Underpinnings of Increased Gun Violence

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Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare Jorja Leap spoke to LAist about a recent increase in gun violence in South Los Angeles. Violent crime has spiked across the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, and gang intervention workers have identified contributing factors including the economic and social stresses of the pandemic, distrust between the community and law enforcement in the wake of police shootings, social media and drugs. “It is not a law enforcement problem, it is a public safety problem,” Leap said. In an analysis of LAPD’s Community Safety Partnership program, Leap highlighted the jurisdictional challenges of violence intervention, where different parts of the same streets are monitored by different police departments. “This is multifaceted. The old ways of doing things are not going to work, and it’s never going to be solved by simply putting cops [in hotspots],” she said. “If anything, sometimes that heightens the issues.”

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Leap on Rising Gun Violence During COVID Pandemic

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Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare Jorja Leap was featured in an NBC News article about the increase in gun violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, homicides rose across the country in small and big cities. In Akron, Ohio, six children under the age of 16 were killed over a single four-month stretch, all but one from gunfire. According to Leap, changes in people’s routine punctuated by economic upheaval, job loss, distance learning and other factors also brought individuals into closer contact for sustained periods, heightening tensions and increasing the prospect of violent encounters. She also noted that gun sales spiked, teenagers were out of school, and organized activities and programs ground to a halt during this time. “This is a complex situation with COVID at its heart but with several social dilemmas all interacting with each other,” Leap said. “I’m actually surprised there hasn’t been more of a rise in crime.”

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