Automating Displacement: Uncovering LAPDs data-driven policing programs that control, displace and criminalize people and places.

In 2017 we filed public records act requests to investigate the relationship of surveillance and policing to land. below are some of the programs we uncovered. Los Angeles Strategic Extraction and Restoration From 2011 to 2019, LAPD terrorized neighborhoods through the Operation LASER program, including by deeming areas “LASER zones” based on policing data. LASER zones were targeted by the City Attorney and LAPD for increased surveillance and patrols, racist missions by specialized LAPD units, nuisance abatements, and a range of other tactics to surveil, harass and banish those in the area, displacing existing community residents in the process. Anchor Points Within or around LASER Zones, LAPD also marked specific addresses, landmarks, and intersections for even more targeted police focus, called Anchor Points. These locations were also slated for increased police patrols and surveillance, as well as targeted strategies like nuisance abatements and evictions, changes to licensing or permit agreements, forced installation of surveillance equipment, and forced changes to design. not a moment in time but a continuation of history... In our interactive map we mark the locations where we’ve identified a police shooting associated with a LASER zone, either because the killing happened within a LASER zone or during a police pursuit that began in a LASER zone. The killings we’ve marked in this way likely represent only a portion of the full number. Since the program operated in secrecy for nearly ten years, the true number of lives impacted and stolen may never be known.

PredPol Hotspots From 2011 to 2020, LAPD used a “predictive policing” system called PredPol, which used algorithms to guess where crime would occur. These guesses were labelled PredPol “hotspots” and maps were sent daily to local cops. In 2018, we obtained records of some PredPol hotspots for downtown. These locations are marked with red circles on the map, with brighter circles for locations that were most frequently labeled a hotspot. As the map shows, these hotspots formed a containment buffer around Skid Row’s edges. Community Safety Partnership Sites These were locations LAPD targeted for a “community policing” program, first launched in 2011 primarily in public housing complexes. In 2020, the CSP program was expanded citywide with the creation of a full Community Safety Partnerships Bureau within LAPD.

We now introduce the interactive map below that displays these harmful l.a.p.d. deployments onto our neighborhoods. this map allows us to clearly see overlaps and relationships between these programs and its deadly effects. we ask, what do we experience when our local markets, parks, and community centers become ever-going targets for police harassment...