Background Information (who, what, where, when, key stakeholders and actors)

In 2006 and 2007, the major consequences of the subprime mortgage crisis began to manifest themselves throughout the country with numerous foreclosures and devalued mortgages. Houses and apartments were left uninhabited, creating difficult economic circumstances for affected communities–low-income and middle-income families/neighborhoods alike.  Due to the costly nature of foreclosures and the increasing amount of vacant homes and apartments, communities responded by instating housing initiatives that welcomed renters who held vouchers for the Section 8 government-run program that offers subsidized housing to low-income families that qualify.  The Section 8 program often encourages its recipients to take advantage of offers for homes and apartments in more middle-class, suburban neighborhoods.  As Section 8 voucher-holders began to move into these neighborhoods, renting from local landlords and property-owners who had mounting foreclosures on their hands, long-time residents of these communities became increasingly unhappy with the new make-up of their neighborhoods.

The majority of Section 8 subsidized housing vouchers are held by low-income, African-American/Black or Latino families. The recent available housing for voucher holders that are "tenant-based" (meaning, they can choose to rent  homes and apartments in the private sector) has been offered in predominantly white, middle-class suburban areas. Unfortunately, as these two groups have come to meet under dire economic circumstances, tensions have arisen and continue to heat up between new and old residents. Once latent racist, classist, and sexist notions have surfaced through the concerns that long-time residents continue to espouse, quite freely, about the new Section 8 residents "ghettoizing" their neighborhoods and creating a new community landscape that they did not expect or desire.

The city of Antioch, CA is one site of these ever-growing tensions.  Residents continued to complain about nuisances and disturbances in their neighborhoods once Section 8 renters began to settle into vacant homes and apartments–aftereffects of the subprime mortgage crisis. After reporting these "incidences," they were encouraged by the Antioch Police Department and a special "enforcement" team they created called the Community Action Team (CAT), to find out if the problematic neighbors specifically held Section 8 vouchers. This surveillance and targeting led to various instances of unexpected and unwarranted police searches in the homes of Section 8 renters, many of which were inhabited by black residents.

Recently, several Antioch residents receiving Section 8 subsidies filed a lawsuit (Williams et al. v. City of Antioch) against the Antioch Police Department and CAT, charging the police with racial profiling and discrimination as well as unconstitutional, unwarranted searches in their homes.  The petitioners are being represented by the ACLU of Northern California, Public Advocates Inc., IMPACT Fund, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.  To accompany the investigations, Barry Krisberg–President of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency–has submitted an in-depth research report addressing the claims that the City of Antioch was specifically targeting Section 8 renters, primarily African-American families. The extensive data that Krisberg collected (which analyzed material from both the Housing Authority and the Police Department) demonstrates the overwhelming influence that race has had on the actions of the Antioch Police Department and CAT.