PJLC Defends Cultural Center’s Right to Refuse to Call Police

The Peace and Justice Law Center (PJLC) has begun advocating on behalf of El Centro Cultural de Mexico, a cornerstone cultural institution in Santa Ana, after the City attempted to penalize the organization for refusing to invite the police to threaten force against unhoused community members.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, unhoused individuals began camping in El Centro’s parking lot. Rather than calling the police, El Centro chose to offer support and services to incentivize leaving the property, consistent with its long-standing commitment to nonviolence and community care. Neighbors complained, and the City of Santa Ana responded by declaring the situation a nuisance, forcibly removing the unhoused residents, and billing El Centro for the enforcement action.

PJLC is supporting El Centro at the outset of this process, challenging the City’s attempt to force a community organization to pay for police enforcement it neither requested nor supported. At stake is a fundamental question: whether community institutions have the right to refuse to rely on law enforcement as a way of addressing social problems like homelessness.

This case matters beyond El Centro. If cities can financially punish organizations for choosing non-police responses, it pressures nonprofits, cultural centers, and faith institutions to rely on law enforcement and state violence even when those approaches conflict with their missions. PJLC’s advocacy seeks to protect El Centro’s ability to remain focused on community work, rather than diverting resources toward penalties or enforcement costs.

PJLC will continue working to prevent future efforts to coerce community organizations into using police force and to defend the principle that care, not criminalization, should guide responses to poverty and housing insecurity.