ECHO PARK:

A STUDY OF GANGS AND THE COMMUNITY

By: David Hartwell

December 8,1998

Echo Park is a district of Los Angeles that is unique not only because of its extreme contrasts between geography, housing and businesses that can change dramatically from one street to the next or even within the same block. There is also a very eclectic racial and economic mix that all exist within the same community, making it one of the rare places in Los Angeles that truly is a melting pot. Echo Park is situated in North East Los Angeles sharing its border with Silver Lake to the west, At water to the north, Elysian Park to the east and Rampart area to the south. Sunset Boulevard is the busiest street running east and west. Glendale Boulevard is the busiest running north and south. The number two freeway ends on Glendale Boulevard and the 101 freeway runs just below Sunset. Most residents probably don’t know exactly where Echo Park ends and Silver Lake begins but Glendale Boulevard is a loose dividing line. Echo Park Lake is located just below Sunset Boulevard and is probably Echo Park’s most distinguishing landmark because it is visible from the freeway, and for its checkered reputation for gang violence. A little farther past the lake driving east on Sunset, you reach Dodger Stadium. Above the stadium is Elysian Park, one of L.A.’s oldest parks. Right in the middle of the park is the Los Angeles Police Academy. It is a little ironic that what surrounds the Academy are some of the more dangerous streets in this area of the city and at the same time, are some of the oldest and most historically significant of Los Angeles. One thing that really makes this area so interesting is the history and the fact that it is so well preserved in its landscape and architecture. This whole northeast area of the city is where the early film industry began as well as many cultural and intellectual movements that are now more associated with the Westside. As residents began moving out of the heart of the city and into the more desirable suburbs around the 1950s, much of Echo Park was left as it was and hasn’t gone through much redevelopment since, especially because most of it has been perceived as a lower income and minority neighborhood up until recently. There are few other places in the city where you can still see turn of the century Victorian, Craftsman, 50 s architectural homes, and log cabins all within a few blocks. Some are in a woodsy setting in the hills. Others are barely standing up a block away above a gang infested street or next to a boarded up warehouse.

Although Echo Park is one of the more culturally and economically mixed areas of the city, most residents tend to stay within in their own cultures when it comes to area businesses. While the majority of the Latino residents (particularly the first generations from Mexico and Central America) use many of the local businesses, many of the Angelo and non-Hispanic residents go outside the community for their needs. This primarily relates to economic and cultural differences.

Most local businesses tend to be small "mom and pop" run stores rather than large chain type stores. Most are along Sunset, but there are many others along the busier main streets; Fletcher, Alvarado, Glendale and Echo Park. Most of these are Asian or Hispanic family run markets, liquor stores, small restaurants, budget clothing and 99 cent stores. The only supermarket in the area is the Pioneer Market on Sunset and Echo Park Ave. Although everyone in the area uses these stores to pick up a necessity from time to time, some use these almost exclusively. Most residents that own cars and make a little more than a modest income can easily drive to nearby Silver Lake or Los Feliz to buy groceries at a chain store. Often those who have less are stuck with buying off-brand foods at Pioneer or overpaying for toilet paper or milk at a small local market. Other than groceries, many of the small clothing, record and appliance stores along Sunset are targeted mainly at Latino customers and few non-Latinos shop here. Only a few blocks farther east on Sunset are some upscale antique shops, restaurants, and trendy boutiques, which have been popping up lately. Most of their customers come from the neighboring communities and not from the immediate surrounding neighborhood. Some of these antique shops have been here for more than twenty years, but they seem more like an extension of Silver Lake than part of Echo Park. Strangely, as the demographics of Echo Park are changing, it’s starting to look more like Silver Lake.

Even though the businesses aren’t too integrated, the neighborhood is and traditionally has been as far as race and social class. Most residents seem to like this mix and have a strong community pride. There are many exceptions, but I’ve made some "loose" observations of the types who live here. There are new immigrants whose main goal is getting ahead in life and who basically stick with their own. Blue-collar whites have had families here for generations. White artists, musicians, and gays that moved here more recently for cheap rents, space, and the eclecticism. On the surface, they may idealize the multi cultural experience more than anyone.

There are some Blacks and Asians, but they’re so mixed into the different social and economic classes, they don’t stand out as a group. The oldest group is the Latino families who have been here for generations. They get by, get along with everyone, but don’t really identify with their other American or their newer, immigrant neighbors. To them, Echo Park is not an artist-haven or a place to get a new start, but a familiar neighborhood that has always had the same problems.

The number of gun-related deaths in all of Los Angeles County has dropped 14% in 1997 from the year before, totaling 187. At the same time, victims under the age of 10 have doubled. The greatest number of deaths has been among Latinos, who represent 42% of the population, but account for 44% of the gun deaths. It’s difficult to understand why Latino gangs are killing each other more than any other group in Los Angeles. Many gangs in this area go back as far as the 20 s and 30 s, but haven’t reached this sort of epic violence until the last few decades. Most of it is buried in the news, unless an innocent bystander is caught in the cross fire. When a young child is killed in a drive-by, people take notice and become concerned for a short time and hope the killers are found. They may not realize that these potential accidents come close to happening nearly every weekend on their own street. Being woken up by gunfire at 3:00 A.M. has become pretty routine if you live in Echo Park. To some, it can be one of the tradeoffs of having a cool, cheap space in an interesting, historic neighborhood rather than some homogenous suburb. Many think it’s what to be expected if you’ve decided to reside in Los Angeles and for that matter,"it isn’t safe anywhere these days."

As you head toward neighboring Silver Lake and Los Feliz, violent crime rates begin to drop dramatically while, burglaries and thefts rise. Heading east or south, violent crimes rise. There is a general perception that people feel safe around a police station, but the areas around Parker Center in mid city or Rampart are not places you would want to hang out at night. Los Feliz on the other hand, has a very tiny police station, where it’s fairly safe to walk to the store at one in the morning. An area’s crime problems may be the result of what the residents have tolerated over what the police have neglected to do. Although it’s easier to blame the police when crime escalates, residents may unknowingly contribute themselves when they don’t become involved.

I have noticed, along with most residents of Echo Park that violent crime in the area has dramatically dropped over the last two years. Most residents would probably attribute this to the increased police force in the area, which is much more prevalent than it was three or four years ago. Though much more needs to be done, I believe that this, along with community activism and support has made the biggest difference in theft and violent crime. Other factors are more difficult to measure, such as anti-gang programs, gang-prevention programs in the schools and neighborhood watch programs, which have also made a difference.

All of these are contributing in some way, but will they continue to be increasingly successful in the future, or are these problems that go beyond what the community or county can solve? If things don’t continue to improve at this rate, will it be fair to blame the state and federal government or other social-economic problems that are out of community’s control to solve? And, is it ultimately the community’s responsibility to help itself anyway?

Right now, the crime rate in Echo Park appears to be most drastically curbed through deterrence rather than through prevention. Will this always be the case or is prevention just a much slower process to measure? Are gang members merely misguided youths that can be redirected into being productive citizens? Or do we need to change our whole economic and social system in order to really solve this problem?

There have been gangs in this country for centuries, but we have never seen this kind of violence until the last decade or so. This may have more to do with America’s growing acceptance of the "gun culture". We’ve had a "gun culture" since the beginning, but maybe it has gotten too out of hand and shouldn’t be tolerated in a modern society. Our forefathers may have needed guns to survive the wilderness, but should every person living in the inner city and suburb still have a [interpreted] protected right to own one? Obviously, there are so many out there that they could still easily be obtainable if we were to tighten our gun-control laws and many would argue that this would only endanger law-abiding citizens. Many of these same people say that if we only enforced the laws we have currently, we could make an enormous dent in our crime problem. To do this we are going to need to build even more jails and build an even bigger police force. There are many people convinced that the current "police state"is what is causing the problem, not solving it.

GANGS AND THE COMMUNITY

All researchers will agree that the areas of the city with a history of street gangs share one basic factor: poverty. Unemployment, deterioration, poverty, high crime rate, gang graffiti, and violence characterize almost all of these areas. These areas hold little in the way of opportunities for barrio youths. Echo Park fits this picture in some respects, but isn’t really a barrio compared to some nearby areas, such as parts of East L.A.or Boyle Heights, where people are packed together in housing projects and low income apartments. There are areas that are run down and deteriorating, but I don’t believe the surroundings alone are as bleak as many other gang territories of the city. There are even gangs in neighboring Silver Lake, which is somewhat of a higher income neighborhood. The reasons may also relate to the "hopelessness"perceived by youths, peer pressure and the generational tradition of gangs running in families.

Poverty is often a major factor for kids’ joining gangs. In a poor environment, children and adults often suffer from a high amount of stress. The stress of feeling segregated, perpetual poverty and perpetual violence can cause a lot of anxiety, fear, confusion, and anger at a very young age. In the United States today, approximately 15% of the citizens are living below the federal poverty level ($12,156 for a family of three in 1995). Many of these youths live in households that barely meet or are under the poverty level. Often they’re in single parent households, usually supported by a single mother that has been left by the father. Many of these women have few job skills and end up working long hours at low paying jobs. Recent studies have shown that many of these single Latina mothers have gone through a cycle of abusive relationships, raising their children in unhealthy households. When a child becomes difficult at home, he’s sometimes given to an extended family member to be raised, such as an aunt or grandmother. In Mexican culture, it’s often common to raise someone else’s child along with your own children. Although these parents may be well meaning, their children sometimes feel like outcasts and look for role models outside the family.

Consequently, many youths and adult men simply "hangout". This could be walking around or cruising the streets, hanging out at friends’ houses, loitering in front of buildings, at street corners or drinking beer in the park. Though these are activities that gang members spend much of their day doing, so do many other people in particularly poorer neighborhoods, creating a major problem of distinguishing who is a gang member and who isn’t. This can make it especially difficult for the police and can also lead to misconceived stereotyping by the rest of the public. The family structure may be the biggest factor that can either prevent or attract youths into joining gangs. The ones with the highest potential risk are the ones whose parents have been in gangs. They’ve been raised with gang culture their whole lives and don’t have any other sort of role model to identify with. The EXP or Echo Park Gang has been in the area since the 1930 s and has been generational through fathers and sons to this day. This cycle is bound to continue. Obviously, those least at risk are those who have a strong family structure. Some of the more stable working families move away to better their own conditions and to remove their children from the gang environment. Unfortunately, when they leave, this can perpetuate the problem by leaving even more unhealthy norms for the kids who fall between these two groups.

This is the group made up of kids from low income and unstable households. It’s not necessarily that their parents don’t have good intentions for them, but they’re often left without guidance and begin to look for belonging outside the family. Gang members often understand the individual’s hopelessness far better than the family or school can. Drop out rates for Hispanic youths are as high as 50% in Los Angeles County high schools. The hopelessness can come from difficulty in school, the future of an unskilled, low paying job, no spending money, and nothing to look forward to. The lack of ambition can sway kids toward gangs at least to feel as they’re part of something, understood, and respected. The irony is that neighborhood identification becomes something they will even die for in some of the poorest, least desirable areas of the city where they usually only rent, not even own property.

WHO IS A GANG MEMBER?

One of the biggest problems in curbing gang violence is defining gang membership. Defining only by appearance doesn’t work. The typical "gang banger" look: shaved head, tattoos, white tee-shirt and baggy pants has become a popular fashion, not only within the Latino community, but with high school kids and hipsters in general, particularly in Los Angeles. According to Officer Joe Writer, Senior Lead Officer of L.A.P.D.’s northeast Division, there are several hundred members of the EXP living in Echo Park. Even with this many members, one rarely sees more than ten hanging out together at once. The problem of identifying gang affiliation is important to the police department when it comes to setting up curfews and sweeps. In 1988, the California Youth Gang Task Force set up three major criteria for defining membership: (1) Subject admits being a member of a gang. (2) Subject has tattoos, clothing, and gang paraphernalia. (3) Subject has close association with known gang members.

The problem is that many gang members won’t admit to being a member and many "wannabes" might claim to be members in order to gain prestige among peers. Clothing isn’t a very good criteria either, but EXP tattooed on someone’s neck or back probably is. "Close association" is also difficult because many kids can have cousins, uncles, or even brothers in gangs and not be involved themselves. They can also live in the same building with members, where ignoring them can be misconstrued as being disrespectful. They may be friends with gang members or may not be. They could also be gang members and never have committed a crime. None of these things are illegal. Merely being a member of a gang doesn’t necessarily mean that you participate in illegal activities and it is even debatable if being a member of a gang is illegal. Technically, it is not. The RICO statute specifies that membership in an enterprise that deals in crime is a crime in itself, regardless if that individual is involved in actually committing a crime. This is difficult because an arrest must not demonstrate partiality or evidence of hearsay. Isn’t it always hearsay? Also, membership in a gang doesn’t necessarily lead to any inference of criminal activity. Simply being affiliated with a gang can’t be considered a crime because our first and fourteenth amendment prohibits the imposition of civil or criminal penalties for mere affiliation with others. Our constitution protects against guilt by association. When these issues are challenged, how do the police even prove gang affiliation? Legally, minors have the same rights as adults. When curfews have been challenged, they technically have all of the same constitutional rights including: free speech, freedom of assembly, association, search, and seizure etc. This confusion only adds to the public’s hysteria toward gangs. Because arrests undeniably occur over the "perception of affiliation" or the "cholo look". This may lead some outsiders to believe that many in the community feel constantly harassed by the police, but the opposite is true. Most residents have felt that their neighborhood has been a low priority area of the department. It’s a racist belief in itself to believe that an alliance exists among all Latinos: cholos and residents alike. At least 99% of the residents of Echo Park are hardworking people. It is harmful to them to make the issue into a "minority culture vs. the police" issue. While not as simple, it needs to be attacked as a "criminals vs. community" rather than a social issue when people are being killed. Some cultural factors may be involved in creating gangs, but most kids in the area don’t join gangs, and many victims of gang violence are innocent community members caught in the crossfire or in cases of mistaken identity. It’s an absurd notion to think that people of the same racial background hold their shared ethnicity over their values.

While many support the police at all costs, there are some residents with apprehension toward them, some of it warranted. I know a few people, mostly men in their late teens or early twenties who have experienced incidences of being harassed by the L.A.P.D. in Echo Park and nearby areas. Most of the time it was only verbal harassment (except one case) where they assumed that he was a gang member because of his race, age and dress style. While the police were always in the wrong and these friends don’t deserve any blame, I believe that some, or most of these cases could have been avoided. If you’re looking for trouble, you’ll find it. Driving around a notorious gang hangout, late at night, after a few beers or hanging out at Cypress or Echo Park having a nightcap, might be setting yourself up for a confrontation with the police. Sad, but true, if you’re a young Hispanic male in that sort of situation, the police will be harder on you. I don’t want to paint such a simple picture, obviously minorities are sometimes unjustifiably harassed by police, I’ve even been myself. Also, I’ve personally had friends and know many people who’ve lost family members to gang violence in Echo Park and other areas around LA. None of these people were actual members. They all were cases of mistaken identity. Just as the police department may have some difficulty distinguishing actual gang members from regular youths dressed in gang attire, the gangs themselves have the same problem, only the outcome can be far more tragic. L.A.P.D.

Officer Joe Writer is the Senior Lead Officer of L.A.P.D.’s Northeast Division. He attributes the decline of violent and nonviolent crime in Echo Park to the increase of patrol cars in the area, along with the F.A.S.T.T.R.A.C. program. He estimates the figures at around 25% and has the statistical charts to back it up. Two and a half years ago, the federal government granted the L.A.P.D. more funds to increase its patrol force. These funds have directly helped increase patrol in the Northeast division from eight, to 22 officers per day. The number of patrol cars per watch has also increased: from eight, to 16 cars during day and night shifts, as well as five, to 10 cars during morning shifts. Three years ago, Officer Writer was responsible for overseeing both Silverlake and Echo Park. Now these are two separate divisions, and Officer Writer can concentrate solely on Echo Park.

F.A.S.T.T.R.A.C. is simply community-based policing as opposed to the general, broader policing tactics that had been used in L.A. for decades. This system breaks types of crimes down into categories and holds a particular unit accountable for crimes committed in each category. At these meetings, progress and areas where more focus is needed are discussed. This program has made a difference because the officers are held accountable for their actions and their focus is narrowed to one particular type of crime, as opposed to black and whites randomly taking calls and not making any correlations. At each meeting, reports are discussed along with maps, charts, and statistics of crime in each category. First, is a general map that outlines overall crime reports for that week, it then breaks down into percentages; the types of crime committed each week, each day and time of day when they occurred, and is followed by a brief written report. This report is broken down again into each of the eight subcategories of crime, using the same format of maps, graphs, and charts. Even though F.A.S.T.T.R.A.C was implemented by then Chief Williams with much support, the department’s tactics are beginning to revert back to the more conventional style under current Chief Parker.

One reason this system has been so successful is that it points out particular areas for patrol to focus on and what to look for. As far as gang related incidents, this can lead to another concept that has been used more frequently lately:"address accountably". Officer Writer and community leaders believe this concept has brought about many changes Echo Park.

Anyone that has lived in Echo Park will tell you that their neighborhood would be relatively safe if it weren’t for one or two particular neighbors. My girlfriend and I had lived on Echo Park Avenue for years, but eventually moved out after endless shootouts, a bullet through our apartment window, and even attempted assaults. We and all of our neighbors basically blamed this on one family that lived a block down the street. After talking with the police and many friends who live in other parts of the city, this isn’t an uncommon scenario. "Address accountability," means that any crime that appears to be "gang related" within a block from one of these houses, the house address will be use on the police report. This wasn’t really done until recently, and making any correlations between reports was difficult, when only cross streets were used on a report. This is important because most shootings or arrests rarely occur on the property, but usually out in the street or sidewalk close-by. I don’t think that this could wrongfully accuse a homeowner of being guilty merely by association or coincidence, because residents know what happens at night around specific areas of their neighborhood and after a history of shootings and arrests near the same house, so do the police. NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH

The neighborhood watch program in Echo Park is part of the greater EPSA. There are about 550 members, most are single family residents, but a few businesses and apartment complexes also participate. The purpose is to get residents involved in community-based policing. They pay $13.00 every four months, which is used to hire a community patrol service(Select Patrol) to cruise the area seven days a week, 110 hours a week. The patrol officer has a cellular phone, which the resident members can call directly if they see some "suspicious activity". The officer records these as well as his own observations and shares this information with the EPSA and the police. The patrol officer isn’t expected to get involved in confronting "suspects" unless someone or someone’s property is obviously threatened. On the first Monday of each month, EPSA sponsors a meeting at the Echo Park Stop-In Location at 4:30 p m. Senior Lead Officers Writer and Cabriales come to these meetings and talk with residents about particular problems they’ve had, or potential problems they see existing in their neighborhood. They try to come up with solutions together and figure out where the L.A.P.D. could use more patrol.

William Nettles started the program in 1990 along with a few other members of the community. Nettles believes the program has been successful because it shows gang members that the residents don’t have any tolerance for crime in their neighborhood. A few years ago, a young mother was knocked over the head and had her wallet stolen by four kids. They wound up with $5.00 between them. If they weren’t from the neighborhood, they would have most likely demanded the money rather than hitting her over the head from behind so she wouldn’t see them. That day, Nettles and some friends posted signs all over the neighborhood, in both English and Spanish, describing the suspects. By the following morning, they were all torn down. Nettles uses this story to illustrate how the community is letting gangs know that they won’t be intimidated, whether or not they found the suspects isn’t nearly as important.

Several successes can be attributed to the program. The most noticeable is the decline in graffiti. While a few years ago there were taggings all over Echo Park; particularly around Sunset and Echo Park Avenue, there clearly aren’t as many today. The EPSA deserves some credit for this because some members have been going out and painting over taggings for the last seven years. While at first the taggers were re-tagging over their efforts almost daily, they’ve gradually stopped bothering to come back. Besides the graffiti, certain apartment complexes have been cleaned up around the same areas. Here, the EPSA can also take some credit because they’ve worked with their lead officer to hold landlords responsible for what goes on in their buildings by threatening the landlord with charges. They’ve also used similar tactics with liquor stores and a bar on Sunset. All of these places were sights with a repeated history of armed robberies, drug dealings and even murders that weren’t necessarily confined to the apartments or liquor stores themselves, but were harming innocent residents or businesses in the surrounding areas. While there could be an argument that these tactics could discriminate against some; merely by association, most residents I’ve talked with haven’t thought so and support what the EPSA has done. It’s possible for some outsiders to believe that the poor are being bullied by the EPSA, but once again, the innocent poor are the ones being most effected in the first place. They are the ones waiting for a bus on Sunset Blvd. at one in the morning and suffering the consequences in the most dangerous areas of Echo Park. A few years ago, I would see security cars cruising the hills, but I rarely saw a Select Patrol car driving up Echo Park Ave., near my apartment. I would see them while driving to a friend’s house or a party in the hills, near or in Silver Lake. I thought about how safe these parts of town seemed in comparison, because the types of crime they were worried about; were more likely to be thefts and burglaries, not shootings or robberies. Ironically you’re less likely to get your car stolen in the more dangerous parts of town. Residents in the hills generally don’t need to worry about being robbed or assaulted. The greatest threats happen in the "poorer neighborhoods", when rival gang members come to shoot someone on the block or terrorize the block because rival gang members live there. Shooting out every car window on the block, slashing tires, spray painting and vandalizing houses as retaliations are some of the more common things that some Echo Park neighborhoods receive because of only a few gang members. The crimes in the hills are more likely somebody wanting your property and usually taking it as discretely as possible, if they can get away with it. Neighborhood Watch could easily be detouring potential thieves, but you can’t accurately measure. Compared to areas near Sunset and Echo Park Ave., these areas would probably be peaceful without it. There are some possible explanations why there used to be more community involvement and more security patrol in the safest parts of Echo Park. After a particularly violent shootout, a few years ago, I noticed more police patrol than ever before. I figured it was just a temporary reaction by the police department, most likely because they had just built a new bus station across the street and were trying to protect the city’s interests. I expected things to go back to "business as usual" any time soon and was skeptical that it would last more than a few weeks. Surprisingly, not only has there been a continued police presence (and a continued drop in shootings), but security patrol cars have been regularly driving up and down Echo Park Ave. as well.

Racially, the EPSA is a good representation of the community. While some of the more prominent members of the EPSA as a whole are mainly Anglo, this can be misleading because there is more than one watch. There are several and depending on which part of town you’re in, that meeting is made up of your immediate neighbors, usually a reflection of the racial makeup and general income bracket. Home owners as well as renters are represented. While none of the residents I spoke with felt there was an imbalance; Latino or White, liberal or conservative, some feel that it hasn’t always been this way. Many minorities feel the EPSA started out almost ten years ago as an "exclusively white club" to keep an eye on the Latino kids around Sunset Blvd. There is some truth to this and there obviously was more of an "us vs. them" mentality at that time, but gradually the "watch" has become more integrated over the last few years which has benefited everyone. Because of the integration, most of the more conservative, "law and order" faction now understands that prevention is just as crucial as "policing". At the same time, minorities don’t feel as if they are being scapegoated. The most significant change to come from this is that the lower-income and most crime-ridden neighborhoods of Echo Park have slowly started their own neighborhood watch programs in the last two years. These areas have been the culprits of much of the crime in the first place and these newer watch groups deserve most of the credit for the whole area’s recent crime drop. It is somewhat ironic that these areas weren’t responsible for starting the EPSA in the first place, but there are some obvious reasons why they were slower to catch up with their neighbors in the hills.

The wealthier (not necessarily wealthy) and older residents have been more involved to some degree, not because they’re more paranoid or concerned, but because they have much more free time to show up at meetings and organize themselves. Many of the original EPSA organizers were older and retired, house wives or freelance artists of some sort. The working poor with families don’t have the same kind of free time to become activists, because many work long hours at menial jobs and many are single mothers. Not only that, while a family in the hills may never even have personal contact with a gang member, other families may live next door to one. They could feel intimidated joining the neighborhood watch in fear of gang members finding out. There have been retaliations against neighborhood watch members in Echo Park where one was even shot. Although these are extreme incidents, just the fact of your gang member neighbors knowing you’re involved could make daily life extremely uncomfortable, especially if you have children. Another reason that you didn’t see many security cars cruising around places like Echo Park Ave. on a Saturday night has to do with the patrolman’s judgement. Considering that these people usually don’t make much more than $6.00 or $7.00 an hour, it’s unlikely that they were going to slowly drive by a party that’s going on or stop and watch a group of cholos hanging out on a street corner. A rent- a-cop uniform doesn’t exactly instill a chord of fear in a group of gangsters. As these areas became more involved with the ESPA by pressuring the police and their neighbors, these problem areas aren’t as threatening as they once were and the EPSA can more easily patrol them. As these areas become safer, residents don’t feel as intimidated by gangs.

It can be argued whether or not these community-policing groups infringe upon the rights of innocent minors and adults, by the possibility of watching or reporting someone only because they may look suspicious. This may be more likely in areas where kids actually come from other places to hang out, like Hollywood or the 3^rd Street Promenade. Youths don’t generally come out to Echo Park to hang out by the lake or on residential streets at night. After living here several years, the signs are pretty evident when trouble is about to happen, to anyone who knows the neighborhood. I found the excerpt of Mike Davis’s ECOLOGY OF FEAR that portrays community policing in Echo Park as racially motivated, very callous and insulting. The purpose is more about keeping kids from killing each other than about some senior citizens getting together and discussing their paranoia of youth culture. The most liberal activists in the community like Council Member Jackie Goldberg and Conrado Terrazas to the most conservative are all involved with the EPSA and believe its making a difference and none of them are even remotely worried that it’s being misused. It can’t really criminalize anyone because it generally only reports. The vast majority of the residents are used to living in a multi ethnic neighborhood, which this has been for decades, and aren’t going to make a report just because they see a black or Hispanic kid walking down their street as maybe someone in a wealthy, exclusively white neighborhood possibly (?) might. Most residents, whites, and minorities are here because they want to be. The argument of racial fear driven community policing doesn’t really work because whites that want to live in an "all white neighborhood" wouldn’t have moved here to begin with, they would have picked a place like Simi Valley or Newhall. By the same token, there are many cheaper areas for low-income minorities to live around the city. People move here because they like the hills, old buildings, and ethnic mix that isn’t found in many other places around Los Angeles.

PREVENTION

With all of the work being done by the ESPA and L.A.P.D. to curb gang violence in Echo Park, the most complicated work is prevention. Social workers and law enforcement all have said that swaying kids away from gangs while they’re still young is the most crucial prevention. I asked a police officer from the area about the older kids; "They’re almost a lost cause, all you can really do is concentrate on the younger ones". Expecting a more positive and sympathetic answer, I asked one of directors at the Central Action Committee the same question; "Um, that’s really tough, you can only hope a girl, baby or something from outside can make them change." It wasn’t because she hasn’t had any successes with teenagers or that she wasn’t very committed. Everyone that’s involved on either end knows that kids past a certain age, as well as adults aren’t likely to change with traditional methods. Not only that, but it doesn’t look like any time soon, when the government (or public) is going to prioritize education and prevention to the same level as it does punishment. Currently in Echo Park, three major programs are aimed at both educating and offering neighborhood youths alternatives other than gangs. They all basically share the same goal except; one focuses more on prevention, another on getting kids out of gangs, and another one does both.

The Centro de Pueblo works with some of the most troubled youth in the area. The majority are there because of a court order or recommendation by the L.A.P.D. or parole officer. The age ranges are basically 12-18 and most of these kids have some sort of affiliation with street gangs and are starting to build up a criminal record. These are the ones in the age group most at risk and the center’s aim is to break this pattern before they become adults. According to their needs, they are put in individual or group therapy for whatever amount of time the court or police have ordered. Besides therapy, they are to enroll in classes that teach family planning, parenting, or drug awareness if needed. This is basically about trying to re-educate the most "at risk" youth who are already showing a tendency to becoming adult criminals if they don’t get some direct help. Along with counseling, they do a few other outside activities like cleaning up graffiti and mural projects, but the focus is more on the individual and helping him or her get back in the mainstream. Their progress is analyzed in a case report and sent back to the court, where they are re-evaluated.

While one of the case officers Centro de Pueblo was very enthusiastic about great success with particular cases, he admitted that it was extremely difficult work and didn’t really have the figures of their overall success rate. Because the youths aren’t generally there by choice, many are reluctant to change and pretend to go along with the motions, just to finish. Others might genuinely want to change, but eventually fall back into the same old routine down the road when; hanging out with old friends, having difficulties in school or even just being around the family, which is often the biggest factor of all. El Centro de Pueblo dispatches caseworkers from its modest headquarters on LeMoyne Street directly to the homes of troubled families in which county officials have identified cases of abuse, neglect, or abandonment. The workers arrive with the message: watch the children more closely, keep them clean, clothed and in school, cut the shouting and violence, and show some love. "Sometimes it takes material incentives to make a difference," said Luis Lopez, one of the center’s counselors. At one home where he went on a call, "there was no sofa, no chairs to sit on", he said. "We sat on the floor." The center was able to buy some used furniture for the family. The center has also helped with cash in some instances to help families put a deposit on better living quarters. Still, in the four years since it began family preservation services, the center has only been able to afford enough staff to contact 430 families among the thousands in the community it might have helped. Nevertheless, Centro de Pueblo is changing the lives of at least some of youth that go through it and is strongly supported and respected by the other youth groups and the police department.

While Centro de Pueblo is somewhat of a last resort for troubled youth, one of the Central City Action Committee’s purposes is to prevent kids from needing the Centro de Pueblo. They have a Youth Center that’s available to anyone between the ages of nine and 21. About a third are referred on first time offenses and the rest go voluntarily from the whole northeast area, including Chinatown and Highland Park. They also do case management and provide community service time for youths who have had trouble with the law, but their other purpose is providing regular neighborhood kids with activities and a place to go after school. Because many of these kids are from low-income families and most of their parents work longer than eight-hour days, they can’t afford any activities other than hanging out in the streets. Mary Ann Hayashi is one of the Youth Center’s directors. Her explanation for the neighborhood’s increase in gang problems over the years is the same as everyone elses’ in the other youth service programs: education and poverty.

Our public school system works for the majority of the kids that go through it. There are many whites as well as Latino children that have a difficult time learning because of learning disorders, chaotic home lives, etc. Most of these children get by through grade school, but when they get to middle school, they’re lost. It’s difficult enough for any child to deal with not feeling very "smart"and many of these kids become filled with anger and hide their anger by being aggressive. This commonly happens with children whatever their race, but it can be especially difficult for children of new immigrant parents who may not speak English. Their parents can’t help with homework or possibly can’t even communicate with their teachers. If a student hasn’t really understood what he’s learned up to middle school, it’s a little late to catch up because there isn’t much personal attention given from this point on. It’s certainly better to be thought of as tough, than as stupid from a 13 or 14 year-old’s point of view.

A child who gets lost in the educational system and belongs to a low-income family is even at a greater risk of becoming involved with street gangs. Besides doing the same type of case management study as Centro de Pueblo, The Youth Center helps with finding kid jobs in the community. Mary Ann Hayashi said that, "just the difference of a kid having $50.00 a week in his pocket, can help him stay away from gangs". Besides taking kids to movies and ball games, the Central City Action Committee helps youths find work in the neighborhood; covering up graffiti, house and yard work and various odd jobs for individuals and businesses that can earn them a little extra spending money of their own. Hayashi explained how William Nettles, the ESPA founder had hired kids from the center to help with some yard work and how they called him the "white guy" for a while. After continuing to hire them several times, they started calling him "Bill" and talked about what a cool guy he was. This is another goal of the committee: educating and breaking down racial barriers.

Just as whites may be guilty of having preconceived notions about their "non white" neighbors, Latinos, and other minorities often have their own prejudices. Many Latino children have learned these from their parents or developed them on their own, through feeling segregated at school, or in their community. Although the whole northeast area is more integrated than most in Los Angeles, there are still many pockets that are segregated, where children tend to stick and socialize with their own. The Youth Center tries to get the whole neighborhood involved with their program so the kids as well as the adults can learn by working together. Once a child or teen has finished his 100 hours of community service, the center encourages him or her to stay involved and many do. Once again, casework is very expensive because usually the whole family needs counseling, there are always the same issues: abuse, neglect, drugs, and poverty. Like the Centro de Pueblo, the Central City Action Committee has very limited funds available.

Another community group not as dependent upon government funds is the community meetings organized by Conrado Terrazas, an assistant of Council Member Jackie Goldberg, who is highly visible and respected when it comes to gang problems in the area. Among other things, Terrazas has helped organize community meetings, which have taken place at the Elysian Heights Elementary School Auditorium over the last several years. Through these meetings, Centro de Pueblo and the city council office, along with neighborhood parents and residents, have organized; peace marches, a Youth Empowerment Resource Fair, Youth leadership conferences and Handball/Basketball Tournaments. For the most part, the community and police department strongly support these discussions and activities, but not everyone. These anti-gang programs are sometimes controversial because everybody is encouraged to get involved, including gang members.

The most controversial program started in 1994, when the Neighborhood Watch program asked local gang members how to make the streets safer. Their response was that they needed a safe, legal place for recreation. El Centro del Pueblo asked the Elysian Heights Elementary School if they could start a Saturday recreation program at the school, but was voted against by parents. El Centro del Pueblo won approval at a second meeting, even though there were still many community members opposed to the program because they thought this would be an accident waiting to happen. Even with a very vocal opposition of parents and community members, the school board went ahead with the plan.

The argument used by the opposition was that of safety. Parents felt that making the playground a "gang hangout" would consequently make their children vulnerable to shootings by rival gangs. " I’m worried because other gangs might come by and shoot" said one parent. While the program started a heated debate between the Echo Park Improvement Association, Neighborhood Watch and the School Board, many parents volunteered time and arts and crafts supplies, hoping to show gangs how the community is helping rather than neglecting the problem.

While it initially started a lot of hard feelings between residents, the program is still going on today and no one has been injured by it. About fifty participants come every weekend, mostly gang members in their teens and early twenties and about a dozen or so grade school aged children. Volunteers supervise them until six in the evening. Most residents think that the program has been a success and that it has taught the school children as well as gang members that they can live together without violence. The only disturbances have been teenagers caught with open containers, but a few residents still say, "It’s just a matter of time."

This is one example of the ideological differences between residents. Those leaning more to the left like Terrazas, Goldberg and El Centro del Pueblo are sometimes criticized as being a little too tolerant toward gangs by others in the community. Those to the right are still sometimes labeled as being insensitive or bigoted. The L.A.P.D, Echo Park Senior Lead Officers weren’t invited to last September’s Peace March and the L.A.P.D. has more than once been critical of Jackie Goldberg’s office. Interestingly, these differences aren’t automatically drawn between racial or political lines. There are many instances where the supposed "left" have taken a strong "law an order" stance and many where the police and Neighborhood Watch have become involved with prevention and increasing tolerance that would have been shocking earlier in the decade. On the vast majority of the issues, all of these groups work surprisingly well with each other, despite some differences.

SUMMARY

Although much more needs to be done, all crime in Echo Park is on the decline. Overall, different statistics show as little as 20%, to as much as 25%, compared to three years ago. Even without the statistics, there are very noticeable differences in particular areas near Sunset, Echo Park Lake, and Echo Park Avenue. Most residents will tell you how their surrounding streets have changed so dramatically in the last few years and how they rarely hear gunshots at night anymore, at least like they used to. There still are isolated shootings and robberies, they’re just not every weekend like certain periods in the past, but they still happen more regularly than other nearby areas, some of those are getting worse as Echo Park improves. From my own experience, neighbors point to a particular source of the improvement like; "There hasn’t been much shooting because those people moved out down the street, where they were always shooting at."Even with all the new awareness over the last few years, not everyone is aware why the area has been changing, other than they may have noticed more cops, or someone moved out.

The increase in police patrol has made a great difference. This has made the biggest difference of all, according to representatives of every group I’ve talked with. Most officers of the L.A.P.D. and members of the different community groups credit the Fast Track program as having a great effect because it helps the officers get to know the community and the people. More important, it holds the officers accountable for their particular area. The one crime prevention strategy that isn’t exactly official, but has been adopted and supported by every community group as well, is the idea of "address accountability". Holding a few particular individuals responsible, who always seem to be "in the wrong place at the wrong time" is how the police and Neighborhood Watch are most effectively curbing the violent crime and theft rates. Rather than harassing any "cholo looking" 14-year-old posing on a street corner, which was definitely more common a few years ago, officers are much more familiar with who the real threats really are. The community has always known where the problems on their blocks stem from and is finally feeling more trust with the L.A.P.D. to work with them. I’ve personally seen this happen in many instances and again, the L.A.P.D. virtually had the unanimous support of the community.

There was a family that lived down the street from me on Echo Park Avenue where gang members hung out nearly every night of the week. Consequently, there were drive-by shootings nearly every weekend that went off and on for years. About two years ago the L.A.P.D. started pressuring the family and gang members that hung out there on a regular basis. They let them know that anything that happens near that house, they would cite them for. They also let them know they were being watched. City workers even came by and put up a street light in front of the house and turned the actual lamp over the house, rather than the street. They continued to replace the bulb every time it was shot out. Not long after, they moved out. While outsiders could argue this as harassment, even the most racially sensitive of the community leaders I spoke with, mentioned this family’s name and address, and how they were involved with getting them out of the neighborhood.

Not very long ago, they sent another notorious local boy from my block to prison in Northern California after over 100 arrests in Los Angeles. When his lawyer asked for him to be bumped to CYA, even the "liberal" Jackie Goldberg wrote the judge a letter saying this kid is a dangerous criminal who should be in prison. He got bumped anyway and soon afterward, ended up being killed while attempting an armed robbery. You could argue that not only was he a danger to the community, but also to himself and possibly a few more years in jail may have protected his own life. These aren’t "old west" style mentalities of the town ostracizing a kid who needs a job and some self esteem, but a reality that certain individuals are a danger to everyone, including themselves.

There are many youths and adults in street gangs who could change given some guidance and opportunities and the goal of all of the groups I spoke with is to help them get reconnected with society. Unfortunately, a very small percentage never will. Like in the extreme cases I’ve mentioned, some individuals are hard-core sociopaths and need to be isolated from the community. Usually, these are often the same individuals who "run the roost" and as a result, when they’re gone; things quiet down in the neighborhood. This is because most gang members in the neighborhood seem to get in less trouble themselves without them around.

The Central City Action Committee and El Centro del Pueblo are having some success with reconnecting gang members back into society, but a lot more needs to be done. It’s not their ideology or approach that isn’t bringing them a higher success rate, but far too limited funding. The issues involved such as abuse and poverty require very intensive "family" casework that funding doesn’t even come close to allowing. Other counties have used this type of intensive casework on a small percentage of their most violent youth offenders and have found it has reduced multiple offenses up to 50 and 80%. This type of work involved intensive family counseling, tutoring, and mentoring programs and ended up costing the state less than one-third of the cost of incarceration. While drafting these types of programs may sound like common sense, most proposals were axed last year over partisan politics. Governor Wilson vetoed every Democratic proposal, mainly over his position of trying violent 14-year-old felons as adults; an idea that studies repeatedly show only breeds more hardened career criminals. While some 14-year- olds are already career criminals and should be punished as adults in some cases, a judge should be making this type of individual decision, not a blanket law. The Central City Action Committee, El Centro del Pueblo, Conrado Terrazas and ESPA are all doing what they can despite matters beyond their control such as funding for the educational and criminal justice systems.

There are still things that need be done on a community level. One realistic and obtainable project that I’ve heard mentioned several times is the building of a new recreational center that should be in the business district of Echo Park, rather than the one on Diamond St., which is both too far away and dangerous for many local kids to conveniently go to. The community meetings have been trying to arrange funds and are hoping to start building next year. Echo Park Lake would be an ideal place for a new youth center, but the area is far too dangerous at night. Possibly with increased policing around the lake, this area would be ideal in the future. Besides a new youth center, more could be done with Elysian Heights Elementary School. A Sunday program could be added along with the Saturday one, which has been a success. Because it gets dark in the fall, while the program is still happening; lights need to be put up on the playground. Maybe besides sports and arts and crafts, they could include job training and other resources in the program. More voluntary programs need to be created that include youths and adults involved in gangs, not ones that exclude them. Most studies show that the majority of gang members eventually outgrow it, by the time they reach their mid-twenties. Usually the reason is because of a family and most don’t become adult criminals. Officer Writer explained two solutions that he has seen work with youths involved with gangs in Echo Park. One is moving teenagers out of town and into a new environment. The other is sending them into the military. In many cases, new surroundings can help individuals change. Making education optional for children over fourteen could also be a possibility. This way, we could make schools more productive for the children that want to be there and possibly find another type of system for those who don’t. Another idea of the police department and many others is simply "outlaw" gangs. Although there would be many problems with practicality and whether this would be constitutional, the L.A.P.D. supports this idea. Any gang members seen together in public would be arrested. If there was a question of affiliation, the senior lead officer or crash unit officer could come and identify while the "suspect" is detained.