Homeless encampents are threats to public safety and we need real action

Story after story is emerging from local and national media about the impact of homelessness on LA — including crime, decay, and fear.The California Post has found that some homeless housing developments, including buildings that the city and state have bought for the purpose, are generating hundreds of emergency calls for all kinds of violent crimes.Police are constantly being called out to these sites, some of which sprang up inside otherwise happy neighborhoods with little warning.The increase in the homeless population recently revealed by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) only serves to highlight the increasing threat to public safety these developments represent.When I was the watch commander at Pico Rivera Station back in 2014, there was one location that served as a dedicated halfway house for those suffering from mental illnesses, known as Pico Gardens.  Located on a busy intersection off Rosemead Boulevard, the multistory complex generated an incredible number of calls for service to our station. Averaging at least two calls per day year-round, the patients treated at this halfway house were constantly involved in disturbances within the facility itself.These extended into the parking lots of adjacent businesses.Think about that for a second.  A poorly staffed patrol station was forced to devote hundreds of man-hours to address complaints arising from one property, and forced to ignore other pressing issues throughout the city and surrounding unincorporated areas. In 2025, the city of Los Angeles Fire Department admitted that a full 54% of its calls for service were related to homeless encampments.

In essence, first responders, both police and fire, are continuously devoting an ever-growing share of their calls for service to mental health disturbances in homeless housing developments and encampments that represent a threat to public safety.When a resident calls to report suspicious characters cruising through the neighborhood, tha...