Homeless Advocates Say Ease Up On Enforcement In Skid Row

• As an individual working with the homeless on Skid Row for the past 4 years, by no means will I profess to be an expert on the Homeless situation. I agree with some of what has been said, and disagree with some. The main thing is, We know that often times increased police presence means increased injustice, thats a fact at least for Los Angeles. I also agree with General Jeff and others bully tactics are unnecessary, I know that the Police have a hard job to do but they choose to do that job and if so, they should do it with compassion. That being said, I do believe needs to addressed but with much insight, wisdom and skill, where are all the people that were arrested last year? Skid Row is safer but for how long? Have we addressed the root of the causes? How are we going to deal with all the men of color who make up about 50% of America's prison population? These are the men who end up on Skid Row. I don't disagree with policing, but I say we need a whole lot of compassion when dealing with human beings. One of the comments above referred to the mentally ill, I agree and would also like to add, the ex veterans, and mothers and children, I hope that we will not continue to criminalize the whole skid row community! I am not part of any huge organization on Skid Row, yet we are on the streets doing what we can, and commend those who are working hard and doing the best they can with sincerity! barabbas, dosomethinnow.com a social justice site!

• general jeff... you are obviously delusional, and frankly an internet commenting menace. enforce loitering laws, abolish the sros, and reclaim that part of the city.

• Is the Mayor of Los Angles supposed to take this "letter" serious? Where can I find a complete listing of all those that signed this worthless document? The Skid Row community deserves to know who these people are! Before I address my position against these signee's, let me address some of the other issues that I have with this "letter". Personally, I feel that if someone is guilty of a crime, they should "own up" for their mistake. In the Skid Row area, there are SOME alternative options that are available instead of jail, but there needs to be MORE options than these few. There are several Skid Row community groups and leaders that have been reaching out to the LAPD since SCI's inception such as ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS, LA CAN and the Skid Row 3on3 Streetball League, to name a few that have been trying to address how the LAPD treats our community members. In fact, the 3on3 League has even played a few games of basketball against the LAPD in order to help ease the tensions in the Skid Row community.( It also helped that Skid Row won the first, and most important series of those games). What most of our positioning is, is the way that the LAPD uses "bully tactics" to patrol the homeless areas in Skid Row. In most cases, there is an obvious physical difference between a drug dealer and a mentally ill homeless person. there is no need to shove a mentally ill person against the wall because they didn't comply to the officer's demands, nor is it legal to be aggressive towards a drug dealer if they have not done anything wrong. The LAPD training should reflect this when officers are in the field. That said, let's not lose focus on the "real" situation here. And that's the gathering of these questionable non-profits with wonderful portfolios and executive directors and CEO's that want to continue their "non-profit hustle" by keeping Skid Row in a continuous state of desperation whereby they (the non-profits) can milk the system out of billions of federal dollars to support their weak efforts to address the homeless problems. Sure, they say they help the homeless, but if most of the Skid Row non-profits have been around for no less than twenty years, why hasn't a significant difference been made? ( Sure some of the non-profit organization's have made a slight difference, but if they were truly trying to address the needs of the community, even more individuals would be helped, and THAT is the problem). To take it a step further, most people don't know about a common philosophy that many non-profits support called "harm reduction" where these organizations approve of addicts comfortably using drugs, including smoking crack and IV use, safely inside of their apartments. How is this helpful to the overall improvements of the Skid Row community? Then, if the tenants are "allowed" to do drugs, who sells it to them? Quite possibly it could be the non-profits themselves or a local drug dealer of choice! Why isn't ANYBODY speaking on this subject??!! Now, to put it all into proper perspective, let's say it this way-if the non-profits truly wanted to "fix Skid Row", they would basically be putting themselves out of a job. BUT, with all the billions of dollars of federal dollars and private and public donations circulating throughout their industry, why would they want to end that? In order to keep the money flow going, there has to be a homeless problem. And the bigger the homeless problem, the more money can be allocated to them to split amongst their non-profit ranks. So, when understanding all of this information I have introduced, it is easy to understand the non-profits' collective position regarding the LAPD and their work in Skid Row. Rev. Andy Bales has a lot of insight and truth in his words and I commend him for taking a stand against this travesty against human beings from a demographic that has been severely overlooked and misused and abused for decades. There needs to be more oversight in the Skid Row community whether it be local, state and/or federal. Hold these non-profits "accountable" for their actions( or lack thereof). Without ANYBODY to answer to, they are getting away with constant "murder" as our community continues to suffer while waiting for sincere help. And now that the Census is coming up this year, this is another opportunity for the non-profits to "come together" and further utilize the "non-profit hustle" while the homeless continue to suffer. who is supposed to protect us from these money-grabbing vultures? Basically in "the letter", the non-profits are asking the Mayor to support their efforts to "rob" the Skid Row community of more potential resources under the guise of well-respected heads of organizations coming together to fight for the people. Mr. Mayor, please don't fall for this weak attempt to pull the non-profit wool over the Skid Row sheep's eyes. General Jeff community activist- ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS

• The whole reason why crime is down in the area is BECAUSE of the extra policing. Getting rid of it will only return Skid to its former infamous state.

• <b>Wow!</b> Something in this city works and we want to stop it. How about we take into consideration every taxpayer's right to walk safely and unmolested in our own downtown area? Crime is crime. Good work, LAPD. Keep it up.

• I�m compelled to weigh in on �the letter� circulating around the community and apparently headed toward Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa�s desk. I received the letter, and was invited to sign on in agreement with the conclusions and corresponding actions it outlines. Instead of signing on, I alerted some LAPD commanders to what I believe to be yet another attempt by some to remove the helpful police presence from Skid Row, and return this area many of us have worked so hard to change back to the deprived, predator & drug infested hopeless state it was in less than a decade ago � depicted so accurately in the tragic scenes featured in �The Soloist�. Among the disturbing sentiments made in the letter is the statement that since crime has been reduced by 33% on Skid Row, it is therefore time to move police away from Skid Row and to more dangerous parts of our city. The police presence is the reason for this crime reduction and an absence of police would be followed by a return to lawlessness. As it is, there is still far too much crime and violence on Skid Row, especially against women, and some of the crime has moved into the permanent-supportive housing projects of some of the letter�s signers. There have been documented cases in the last year where leaders of gangs heading up drug sales move in, take over several apartments, require residents to package and sell drugs under the threat of violence. And it has been reported by reputable sources that some leaders of these housing groups actually dissuade their employees from reporting the crimes or cooperating with police. I have met people on the street, displaced from their permanent-supportive housing units by the violence inside of these poorly managed complexes. When we gathered for the annual memorial of those who had died on the streets of Skid Row, the longest list of names of those who died came from within these permanent supportive housing complexes. Don�t get me wrong. I am all for permanent-supportive housing for the people most impacted and devastated by years of homelessness, but we need well-managed, safe permanent supportive housing complete with the much needed services that will help people live a hope filled life. That is not possible when gangs and drug sellers are allowed to occupy the housing units, and it will take a continued strong police presence to keep Skid Row and the housing units safe. I do agree with this statement in the letter; �First, SCI should shift towards community policing. The police on Skid Row should engage residents in a partnership aimed at developing solutions to problems and increasing trust in the police.� I am all for this kind of engagement, and partnership with police and residents to develop solutions. However, it is unfortunate and insincere of some of the writers to ask for this shift of engagement, partnership and development of solutions when they have unfairly criticized, exaggerated the facts, and even dissuaded their own residents and staff from reporting crime and cooperating with the police. I also take issue with another statement in the letter; �Second, policing should focus on serious crime, and stop issuing routine citations for such petty offenses as jaywalking, littering, and loitering.� Jaywalking is dangerous for all, and especially deadly for those who�ve been left on the streets. The writers should better study the �Broken Windows� approach to policing that has helped bring about the transformation on Skid Row. I wish this effective approach would be taken in my own neighborhood, where illegal parking goes unchecked, leads to drug sales, and eventually violence and shootings. Are the writers already forgetting that it was two of LAPD�s officers on horseback, stopping and apprehending the killer of beautiful young Lily Burk because he was drinking in public on the streets of Skid Row? In the words of Deputy Chief Sergio Diaz of the LAPD, �Samuel was seen drinking beer on a Skid Row street and arrested for investigation of possessing narcotics paraphernalia because he allegedly had a crack cocaine pipe� Diaz said. One of the final requests of the writers of the letter has already begun in a strong way; �Third, SCI should prioritize connecting residents to services.� Agencies like Volunteers of America, PATH, Union Rescue Mission, Midnight Mission, the Weingart Center and others have already been active in an SOS program that provides the option for the residents of Skid Row and other neighborhoods who have been arrested to choose a 21 day program instead of jail time. The LAPD and City Attorney�s office have been active players in this option as well. I am one of the few social service heads to join the LAPD in their community policing and time after time I have seen them assist people in need with appropriate services, from expectant moms to whole families to men ready to give life another try, the LAPD often refers people to the help they need. I will say it one more time, the LAPD has done and is doing their part to clean up the streets of downtown LA and to transform Skid Row, but their part is only about 10% of what needs to be done. The rest of the transformation lies on the shoulders of the social service providers and the politicians, those who wrote and received �the letter�. We need to step up our efforts to provide the resources to build more housing opportunities and services throughout LA, regionalize the solution to homelessness, and after we�ve built the housing, provide the supportive services and management to sustain it and move towards the day when not one precious person will be left on the streets of our city. As always, I welcome your comments and feedback and pray that those who can will join us in the fight to end homelessness as we know it in Los Angeles. Please contact our Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa urging him to maintain the police presence on Skid Row. Sincerely, Rev. Andy Bales

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