Four months after a homeless encampment was cleared from Echo Park Lake, city officials are considering adding a permanent fence to the park.
The area was fenced off and closed to the public after protests over the forced relocation of unhoused people from the park. The park reopened in May, and officials are pushing for the temporary fence to become a permanent fixture.
Los Angeles Councilman for the 13th District Mitch O’Farrell told KNX the residents of his district are the ones asking for changes.
“We’re listening, and we’re open. What matters most to me is that we preserve the park for everyone’s use,” said O’Farrell.
Most L.A. parks not fenced-off, with a few exceptions.
O’Farrell noted that since the removal of the homeless encampment, the cleanup and installation of a temporary fence crime in the park has dropped 87 percent, according to LAPD figures. However, it is unclear if that drop in crime was directly related to the park’s closure.
The LAPD released a report on the department's sweep and closure of Echo Park Lake last Friday that placed blame on city officials for letting the homeless encampment grow too large. The report is set to be discussed at Tuesday’s Police Commission meeting.
According to the LAPD’s after-action report, the efforts to move unhoused people and close the park came with a hefty price tag. The city spent over $2 million on just salary and overtime costs for Department of Transportation and LAPD personnel over the course of only three days.
The report also said the police had issues determining who were “legitimate media representatives” and who were “social media ‘influencers.’”
Protesters, journalists and legal observers were detained by police during the protests, including an L.A. Times reporter. According to the Times, the staffer told police he was a reporter after being detained and a “sergeant told him that it didn’t matter.” In a video shared on social media, a Spectrum 1 reporter is heard identifying herself as a journalist, before being led away by three police officers.
The LAPD's full report is available to read here.