Dozens of people living in homeless encampments across the city of Los Angeles woke early Wednesday morning, attempting to save their belongings from city sanitation and removal crews.
The cleanups followed the approval of a city ordinance that aims to restrict sleeping and homeless encampments in certain areas of the L.A. The ordinance went into effect Friday and restricts sleeping and storing personal property in areas near schools, some bridge underpasses and public sidewalks.
Sweeps of homeless encampments were temporarily put on hold during the coronavirus pandemic.
One woman who said she’s been living on Venice Boulevard for about a year told KNX that the decision to remove homes on the boulevard is an assumption of the character of the people living in them.
“We’re not all drug addicts and criminals, and we don’t all have mental health issues,” she said, adding that she has tried several times - with no luck - to find a bed off the streets.
"Passing ordinances that make it a crime to be on the sidewalk does nothing to help solve the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles," Shayla Myers, the senior attorney for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, said in an interview with ABC7 News.
"It kicks the can down the road. It simply tells people where they can't be and it does nothing to provide people an option to move off of the sidewalks."
In June, the L.A. Homeless Services Authority said the city only had enough beds to shelter 39 percent of its homeless community, Councilman Mike Bonin said following his vote against the anti-camping ordinance.
But some who are for the removal of encampments have said that people are simply choosing not to take available beds at shelters. Among them is City Councilman Joe Buscaino.
“Last night in the city of L.A., over 800 interim beds went unused. 800!” Buscaino told KNX Wednesday, referencing the number of beds available city-wide.
KNX reached out to Buscaino for information on how people experiencing homelessness could access open shelter beds and whether the open beds he referenced were near to the area's undergoing sweeps. This story will be updated with any information from his office.
The mayoral candidate said he ultimately wants L.A. voters to decide whether the homeless camps should be allowed on the streets of the city, especially when beds are available to those who say they are looking for them.
L.A. officials told “hands off” property
The decision to resume cleanups in L.A. comes less than a week after a federal appeals court ruled to uphold an injunction that keeps city officials from “taking, disposing or, or otherwise attempting to tamper with” the belongings of a homeless person on public property.
Related
The two-to-one ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said a city ordinance permitting officials to throw away bulky items owned by homeless Angelenos was a violation of Fourth Amendment protections against government seizure of property.
Accessing shelters:
There are more than 50 shelters available to residents in L.A. County, according to a list shared by the Homeless Services Authority. More than 25 of the shelters are in the city of L.A. Several accept both men and women, while others are men, women, or youth-specific.
For a look at a map of the shelters in the city of L.A, click here. KNX has organized by color to differentiate which populatoins are served at each.
