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If L.A. Crime Is Down, Why Is Fear Rising?

Jorja Leap, adjunct professor of social welfare, spoke to the Los Angeles Times about perceptions that L.A. crime is on the rise despite statistics showing that the city is getting safer. Data alone don’t shape perceptions of safety, Leap said, noting that a person’s environment and biases are crucial factors. “When they show the films of Nordstrom being broken into … there is a sort of ‘Oh my god, that’s not supposed to happen here,’ “ Leap said. “Whereas if there’s a smash-and-grab at the Food4Less in Pacoima, then there’s the sense of, ‘Well, it’s a high-crime area.’ ” The sensationalization of high-profile, if statistically rare, crimes such as flash-mob robberies can help stoke fear, as can ominous campaign messaging about public safety during an election season, she said.


 

Crenshaw High Athlete’s Death Is Another Trauma for Black Youths in L.A., Leap Says

The killing of Quincy Reese Jr., 16, illustrates the trauma too often left in the wake of bloodshed, UCLA Luskin Social Welfare’s Jorja Leap told the Los Angeles Times. “Black children are exposed to an epidemic of violence,” she said. Death by firearms occurs among Black children and adolescents in L.A. County at a rate that is three times higher than their proportion of the population, according to the Department of Public Health’s Office of Violence Prevention. Such violence is also devastating for survivors such as those who attended the party where the Crenshaw High athlete was killed, Leap said, and mourning the loss of a friend or loved one stays with children for the rest of their lives.


 

Leap on Need for Fair, Accurate Depictions of Mental Illness

A Los Angeles Times story on the arrest of a man accused of two stabbings, including a fatal attack on a high school student, cited Jorja Leap, adjunct social welfare professor and expert on criminal justice. The suspect’s motives were unclear. City Councilman Kevin de León, whose district includes the site of the attacks, suggested that he suffered from mental illness and referred to the streets of Los Angeles as “the largest psychiatric ward in the United States.” Leap countered that it was “inaccurate and irresponsible” to paint Los Angeles with such a broad brush depicting mental illness. Law enforcement agencies do not track crimes committed by mentally ill people, she said, adding, “So many [people with mental health issues] cannot even care for themselves, let alone think about taking the life of another human being.”


 

An On-the-Ground Partnership to Curb Violence

A Politico article assessed the Community Violence Intervention Collaborative, a White House initiative that is undergoing an in-depth evaluation by a team from UCLA. With the goal of curbing gun violence, the 18-month initiative has provided funding, training and technical assistance to local officials and community groups around the country. Politico called it “a success story few have heard about,” one that could take years before its impact is fully realized. Adjunct professor Jorja Leap and Karrah Lompa, who lead the Social Justice Research Partnership based at UCLA Luskin Social Welfare, have been documenting the program’s activities in 16 jurisdictions and will report on the strategies that have proven most successful. The evaluation team included Social Welfare PhD student Livier Gutiérrez, who helped create a data snapshot of research collected to date. This month, Leap and Lompa met in Washington, D.C., with Biden administration officials, funders and community safety leaders to reflect on the initiative’s lessons.

Stoll on Housing Vouchers, Race and Discrimination

Michael Stoll, professor of public policy and urban planning, spoke to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on his research posing the question, “Do Black voucher recipients’ moves to the suburbs increase crime rates?” The answer to this question, according to his study, is no. Using federal data for the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas, Stoll analyzed the impact that Housing Choice Voucher recipients had on majority-white suburbs. The research determined that non-white voucher holders moving into white suburbs did not cause crime rates to increase. However, the mere perception that lower-income residents will have a negative impact on an affluent neighborhood can have real consequences. “It can influence neighbors’ resistance to landlords’ willingness to rent,” Stoll said. He called for more enforcement of housing fairness laws to ensure that voucher holders are not forced into lower-income and racially segregated neighborhoods due to discrimination from landlords.


 

Turner on Combating Crime With Racial Justice

A Los Angeles Times column arguing that Democrats have failed to convincingly address voters’ concerns about crime cited David C. Turner III, assistant professor of social welfare. The GOP’s midterm messaging casting Democrats as soft on crime is largely aimed at a white audience, but many people of color also fear that they or their families will be the victims of violence. The column noted that 81% of Black voters and about 65% of Latino voters cite crime as a top issue. Rather than a militarized response, these communities seek proposals for preventing violent crime, such as after-school programs and job opportunities for young people, said Turner, whose scholarship focuses on Black life and racial justice. “We don’t want increased police presence, because what the research has shown is that regardless of socioeconomic status, increased police presence is not good for any Black community,” he said.

Wang Argues Against Prison-to-ICE Pipeline

Lee Ann Wang is the co-author of a commentary in support of state legislation seeking to end the automatic pipelining of immigrants from prison into the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention and deportation system. Although California has taken steps to reform a punitive legal system that often perpetuates violence against those most vulnerable, the authors point out that such efforts have not extended to California’s migrant communities, including immigrant survivors of sexual, domestic and reproductive violence. “In the interests of public safety, California must prioritize accessible care and community support rather than perpetuate violence and punishment,” write Wang, an assistant professor of social welfare and Asian American studies, and co-author Alisa Bierria of UCLA’s gender studies department. “We must challenge institutions of punishment in our communities where lives are lost and gender violence is the norm.” The article was posted by Cal Matters and newspapers in the Southern California News Group.


 

Heed the Data Behind Criminal Justice Measures, Leap Says

Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare Jorja Leap spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle about decisions awaiting the city’s next top prosecutor after the recall of District Attorney Chesa Boudin. During his time in office, Boudin changed policies relating to cash bail, charging minors as adults and California’s “three strikes” law, among other reforms. Leap, an expert on gangs, criminal justice and prison reform, pointed to research on the effectiveness of different approaches to deterring crime. For example, there is little research to back up the claim that cash bail provides an incentive for people to return to court so they don’t forfeit what they paid. In addition, the use of gang enhancements, which can add time to defendants’ sentences if they are proven to have been motivated by gang ties, are ineffective and do nothing to address the causes of crime, she said. “We have no accountability for how this is done — no research studies, no nothing,” Leap said.

Current Solutions to Crime Are Not Working, Leap Says

Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare Jorja Leap spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle about Urban Alchemy, a nonprofit that hires formerly incarcerated individuals to address street-level issues rooted in addiction, mental illness and homelessness. The nonprofit employs 1,100 people in five cities across the United States, many of them people of color and individuals who have previously experienced homelessness. The organization has faced challenges, including two workers shot on the job and criticism that its employees do not have the appropriate licenses to police public spaces. However, Leap said she is confident that Urban Alchemy will overcome these obstacles. “Crime has gone up in America, the same old solutions are not working, so we’re going to see more growth in these areas … and there are going to be growing pains,” Leap said. “Whether you are an abolitionist or a police cheerleader, we all agree what’s been done in the past is not working.”


Yaroslavsky on Worrisome Survey of L.A. County Residents

Worrisome findings from this year’s UCLA Quality of Life Index drew coverage from several print, online, television and radio news outlets. The index, a project of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, found that L.A. County residents’ satisfaction with the overall quality of their lives is at its lowest level since the survey was launched in 2016. “What the pandemic couldn’t do over the last two years, inflation and increases in violent and property crime succeeded in doing,” said Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative. Still, nearly 70% of respondents said that COVID-19 has fundamentally changed their lives. “This finding — that life has been permanently altered — may be the most profound,” Yaroslavsky said. News outlets covering the 2022 Quality of Life Index include the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Magazine and La Opinión; television stations ABC7, CBS2, FOX11, KNBC, KTLA and Telemundo 52; and radio stations KFI and KNX1070.