Unbundling the Police in Venice Beach, California
Almost seven years ago I rented an old house in Venice Beach, California, on Rose Avenue near Groundwork Coffee, where baristas sold T-shirts that said Venice: Where Art Meets Crime. In three minutes, I could walk to the corner of Lincoln Avenue, where there was a Whole Foods, a 99 Cents Only store, a check-cashing spot, two gas stations, a Oaxacan taco truck, and a Mexican restaurant, Casablanca, where a retired accountant named Chip made L.A.’s best margaritas. LAPD alerts about where crime was most likely to happen, based on a predictive analysis, often flagged the stretch between Chip’s margarita cart and my front door, even as neighborhood rents skyrocketed and median home prices surpassed $2 million.
On those few blocks I saw a knife fight, a hit-and-run, car windows busted by smash-and-grab thieves, a heroin overdose, men shouting threats at passersby, perhaps two dozen late-night domestic disputes, and all manner of drunk or disorderly behavior. And I saw an LAPD officer kill a homeless 41-year-old white man named Jason Davis. That I couldn’t stop that killing still bothers me.
In recent weeks, the protests over the killing of George Floyd have provoked an unusually wide-ranging debate about how to respond to police violence. Earmark funds for reform? Defund the police? Abolish them? Those years living in Venice and observing its street life convinced me that, at least in my old neighborhood, the best way forward is to “unbundle the police.”
