We make us safe: Alternatives to policing in a Latinx immigrant inner-ring suburb

ABSTRACT

Inner-ring suburbs have experienced disinvestment, White flight and concentrated poverty alongside increasingly racialized, anti-immigrant policing. Yet scholarship has tended to overlook these neighborhoods as sites of violent policing or models of community safety. In a 4-year collaborative community-based crime reduction project, this case study investigates how uneven development policies and underdevelopment in a low-income Latinx inner-ring suburb gave rise to and supported racialized policing and safety concerns. We also assess the possibilities of addressing community safety by investing in community building and revitalization. The research shows how the legacy of neighborhood disinvestment and deprivation contributed to a lack of quality affordable housing, public spaces, healthcare, employment, and other conditions that support residents’ well-being—and thereby challenged public safety. Activities focused on community building and revitalization offered a positive and impactful alternative to community policing. While activities that invested in community policing demonstrated few successes, efforts focused on strengthening community knowledge, connecting residents to resources, engaging residents in community placemaking, and investing in youth had far better and potentially long-lasting results. The study suggests avenues to improve neighborhood safety in immigrant, Latinx, and declining suburbs without new investments in policing that too often puts residents at risk.

KEYWORDS:

• Anti-immigrant and racialized policing
• Latinx immigrants and immigration
• inner-ring suburbs
• collective efficacy
• neighborhood revitalization

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank all the CPC members who diligently contributed to this effort, particularly those from CASA, including Alonzo Washington, Donta Council, Sara Rockefeller, and Julio Murillo. We also appreciate the guidance and support of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, particularly Matt Perkins.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The term race-class subjected suburbs refers to Soss and Weaver’s (2017) conceptualization of how race and class interact to produce unequal policing practices.

2. All demographic statistics are from the U.S. Census Bureau, 2015–2019 American Community Survey Five-Year Estimates for the Langley Park Census Designated Place.

3. The community survey was designed by researchers from the University of Maryland and administered by CASA staff in August–September 2019 and September–October 2020 at CBCR and other community events. The survey was available online and as written surveys. Almost all participants completed the written survey in Spanish with the assistance of CASA staff members. The 2020 survey was combined with a needs analysis of COVID-19 resources. Outreach was hampered by the pandemic. Due to the low turnout rates, researchers did not conduct tests of statistical significance.

4. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes come from interviews conducted by CPC researchers, October 2020.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by Grant No. 2017-AJ-BX-0002 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Notes on contributors

Willow Lung-Amam

Willow Lung-Amam is Associate Professor of Urban Studies and Planning and Director of Community Development at the University of Maryland’s National Center for Smart Growth. She has written extensively on suburban poverty, racial segregation, immigration, gentrification, redevelopment politics, including her book, Trespassers? Asian Americans and the Battle for Suburbia.

Nohely Alvarez

Nohely Alvarez is a PhD student in Urban and Regional Planning and Design at the University of Maryland’s School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Her focus and interests include the intersection of immigrant communities, transnational planning, participatory community building, social justice, gentrification, and equity development.

Rodney Green

Rodney Green is Professor of Economics at Howard University and Executive Director of the Center for Urban Progress. He is the author of three books and over 50 journal articles, including those focused on racial and economic segregation in public housing and police accountability. He is a DuBois Scholar at the National Institute of Justice.