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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Leap on Finding Meaning in Loss

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Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare Jorja Leap was featured in an episode of the UCLA “10 Questions” series exploring the question, “What is loss?” Leap explained that for the past 20 years, gang members have been her teachers about loss. “Loss is unavoidable,” said Leap, who shared the stories of four individuals and the different types of loss they experienced: death, loss of freedom, loss of childhood and redemption. After the death of one former gang member, Leap struggled to grapple with the suddenness of death and the terror that “this could happen to any one of us at any time.” She has found that authentic empathy and humility are the keys to establishing connections that bridge gender, age, race and ethnic divides. “We know we’re going to lose, and yet we attach so deeply, especially to the ones we love,” she said. For Leap, experiencing loss has made the love and the attachment all the more profound.

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Leap Explains Research on Impact of Community Policing

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A yearlong UCLA Luskin study of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Community Safety Partnership was highlighted on KCRW’s Greater L.A. show. Jorja Leap, adjunct professor of social welfare and co-founder of the Watts Leadership Institute, led the evaluation of the program, whose goal is to create a collaborative relationship between police and the community. “The research shows that CSP lowers crime to a greater degree than mainstream law enforcement,” Leap said, adding that the study laid out several recommendations for improving the program. Some civil rights activists fear the CSP program does little to solve systemic problems with policing. Many residents of housing projects where CSP officers are assigned support the program. “If it is reducing crime and it is building relationships and, even though it’s got some improvements to make, residents actually support the idea of CSP, what’s the downside?” Leap said.

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Leap Shares Insights Into LAPD Program

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News organizations reporting on the Los Angeles Police Department’s decision to expand its Community Safety Partnership (CSP) program called on Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare Jorja Leap for insights into the origins and implementation of the program. “The idea was to have a specially trained cadre of LAPD officers who would not be gladiators but who would be guardians and would build relationships and partnerships with residents on the ground,” Leap told KPCC’s Take Two. After a yearlong evaluation of CSP, Leap and her team made dozens of recommendations for improving the program. She cautioned that all organizations, and particularly law enforcement, can be resistant to change. “This is not something that’s going to happen overnight. … The change in the DNA of the LAPD is going to take a while,” she said. Leap also shared her expertise in extended interviews on Fox11 News In-Depth, beginning at minute 8:10, and Spectrum News, beginning at minute 4.

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