Policing Now, Gentrification Later?
How Intensified Policing May Fuel Urban Change
Caylin Louis Moore (Stanford University), Rebecca D. Gleit (Skidmore College)
Figure Map 1. City of Los Angeles Civil Gang Injunctions 1993 to 2013 by 2010 Census Block Group Boundaries
Aggressive policing has hidden costs.
This study provides some of the first empirical evidence that intensified policing can lead to gentrification. Our findings challenge conventional wisdom about the causes of neighborhood change and offer a crucial lens to understand how law enforcement policies shape the places we live—sometimes subtly, sometimes dramatically.
As cities confront issues of inequality, racial justice, and housing displacement, studies like this reveal why rethinking public safety is not just about crime—it's about who has the right to belong in a neighborhood.
Urban gentrification is typically understood as a product of market forces, characterized by rising rents, trendy coffee shops, and the influx of professionals seeking walkable neighborhoods. Existing studies show that these gentrifying neighborhoods often experience more intense policing.
This study flips the script.
We ask: What if policing drives gentrification?
To answer this, we crafted an original dataset from the US Census, the Los Angeles Police Department’s Crime incidents, and information about 46 Civil Gang Injunctions (CGIs) across Los Angeles neighborhoods. CGIs have long been a practice used by the city of Los Angeles to restrict public behavior and mobility of alleged gang members, often targeting Black and Latinx youth in low-income areas. We find that, among neighborhoods with a visible White minority (roughly 2 to 17 percent White resident population), those that received a CGI were significantly more likely to gentrify than similar neighborhoods without one.
This groundbreaking study reveals that intensified policing—in the form of civil gang injunctions—can set the stage for later gentrification, especially in historically disinvested areas with a small but visible White population. Above and beyond other demographic and economic shifts, policing may actively catalyze neighborhood change, attracting more affluent, predominantly White residents into previously disinvested areas.
In this paper, we introduce a powerful concept: “White Visibility.” This refers to neighborhoods with a modest but noticeable White presence—enough to signal greater potential for gentrification. In these areas, Civil Gang Injunctions act as a “buffer”—increasing perceptions of safety and control, which in turn attracts higher-income, often White, newcomers.
Interestingly, neighborhoods with the highest percentage of White residents didn’t need policing to gentrify. They gentrified quickly, regardless of CGI status. But in predominantly minority neighborhoods, CGIs facilitated the early influx of White gentrifiers, essentially setting the groundwork for demographic and economic transformation.
The study finds that within 5 years of receiving a CGI, gentrifiable neighborhoods with “White Visibility” were up to 11 percentage points more likely to gentrify than similar neighborhoods that did not receive a CGI. After 10 years, the effect persisted—and even grew—suggesting that the impact of policing on gentrification intensifies over time.
Over time, the racial composition of Los Angeles neighborhoods shifted. We find that CGI neighborhoods experienced a larger increase in White residents compared to similar neighborhoods that did not receive a CGI.
Figure Map 2. Gentrifying, Gentrifiable, and Non-Gentrifiable Block Groups in Los Angeles City from 2000 to 2010 (example)
The implications are striking. Policing—often framed as a deterrent to crime—here appears to function as an amenity for prospective residents, particularly White gentrifiers. This supports prior research suggesting that White residents view policing as a signal of order and safety, while communities of color experience it as surveillance and control.
Indeed, CGIs may operate similarly to new parks or renovated streets: public investments that reshape neighborhood desirability, but with more controversial social consequences. As policing clears “undesirable” people from public spaces, neighborhoods become more attractive to those seeking sanitized urban living.
Civil gang injunctions were originally framed as a crime-fighting tool. But this research shows they can transform the very makeup of a neighborhood—not by reducing crime significantly, but by signaling that an area is “under control.” We urge city leaders to reconsider the use of policing as a strategy for urban renewal. Rather than relying on punitive measures, we advocate for community-based models of public safety that center care, stability, and equity.
In places like Denver and Seattle, for example, cities are experimenting with alternatives: deploying mental health professionals instead of armed officers or supporting civilian public safety workers who serve as neighborhood liaisons. Major cities like Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco also invest in alternative approaches, deploying civilian public safety workers who act as neighborhood guardians and help foster informal social control in areas hardest hit by poverty and homelessness. These models focus on inclusion, not exclusion—building stronger communities rather than clearing the way for newcomers.
Caylin Louis Moore is a Doctoral Candidate in Sociology at Stanford University. His research examines how criminal classification contributes to the reproduction of inequality across the criminal legal system, with particular focus on criminal courts, prison reentry, parole, policing, and urban transformation processes such as gentrification.
Rebecca Gleit is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Skidmore College. Her research explores the contours of institutional social control, including school discipline and policing practices, and the implications of these practices for social inequality.