Amid Gentrification Fears, a Gang Crackdown Strikes in South L.A.

The City Attorney’s Office is cracking down on a South L.A. apartment building it describes as a hotbed for a notorious gang in the area, the Black P-Stones. But concern has been expressed over the timing: Los Angeles is in the midst of a dire housing crisis, and some folks in communities like this one, known locally as the Jungles, fear that such actions are a symptom of the kind of gentrification that is pushing minorities out of homes via increasing rents and evictions.

The real estate in the community formally known as Baldwin Village, a neighborhood made famous as a setting for the film Training Day, could be considered on the rise as Metro is working on a new, 8.5-mile rail line a few blocks from the city attorney’s target. Observers say crime in recent years has been historically low in the complex’s greater Southwest L.A. area, which has seen a 3.8 percent decrease in reports of month-to-month violence, according to Los Angeles Police Department data.

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