Los Angeles

Community Engagement Post #2: On being genuine and building trust

by Patricia Quintero Estades

Building trust is paramount for genuine community engagement

As I mentioned in our first community engagement post, Arnstein’s article on citizen participation (1969) shows us that there are wrong and illegitimate ways to do community or stakeholder engagement. In my research and my classes at Price, I’ve found that the first step to a legitimate process seems to be a legitimate desire by the engager to listen to the stakeholders and take their input into account when making decisions.

Cop in the Hood

by Bedrosian Center

We ask how to define “good” policing, as we discuss sociologist Peter Moskos’ Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing Baltimore’s Eastern District. What expectations do we put on police officers? How do police departments measure success? What should we measure for success? What does “law and order” mean? Do police receive the right kind of training to deliver the service communities want them to provide? How does Baltimore differ from Los Angeles? We also discuss the epic policy failure of the War on Drugs and the idea of legalization.

Major L.A. Employers Raise Concerns That High Cost of Living Is a Barrier to Attracting and Retaining Top Talent

by Bedrosian Center

Housing costs are deterring top-talent from entering the Los Angeles job market, and leading to higher costs in recruiting and retaining employees, according to a new survey released today by Raphael Bostic, a USC Price School of Public Policy Professor and the newly appointed head of the Atlanta Federal Reserve. Bostic led a team of USC researchers in surveying major L.A. employers accounting for nearly 200,000 jobs in key sectors including utilities, healthcare, education, government, engineering and finance ..

Turning the Corner: Progress Is Not Dead, Trump Is Not the Future

by Anthony W. Orlando

PhD candidate, Anthony Orlando, writes an op-ed about Los Angeles voters and Measure S within the larger political context:

The voters of Los Angeles have taken a stand—and the world should pay heed.

“Measure S,” the ballot initiative defeated in yesterday’s election, was not just a local issue. True, it would only have halted high-rise construction in one city. But like Brexit, like the election of Donald Trump, its effect would have been global.

Book Review: Down, Out & Under Arrest: Policing and Everyday Life in Skid Row

by Bedrosian Center

Los Angeles Review of Books published a review by Jody Armour of the USC Gould School about a new book on policing on Los Angeles’ Skid Row. “Forrest thus ends his brilliant and sobering ethnography on a hopeful note: through their pitched political battles with the powers-that-be, Skid Row residents are reclaiming their personal dignity,…

Armour quoted in LA Times on prisoner reentry

by Bedrosian Center

Jody David Armour was quoted by the LA Times in an article about anti-gang activist Melvin Farmer. The article, “Searching for redemption, a former gang member struggles to outrun his past,” explores the former gang members drive to address the roots of gang violence. “We put these people in a Catch-22,” Armour said. “They are socially marooned,…