LA County supervisors, sheriff, won’t cite or jail homeless to clear encampments

While some cities are beginning to arrest homeless individuals in street encampments, Los Angeles County vehemently rejected that approach on Tuesday, July 30, saying it will continue using “care first” outreach teams to move the homeless into housing and convince cities to take the same approach.

This is the first formal policy passed by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors in response to the June 28 U.S. Supreme Court “Grants Pass” decision.

The court removed the Eighth Amendment protection of “cruel and unusual punishment” and allowed cities to cite or arrest people for camping, sitting, sleeping, or lying in public spaces, even if no shelter beds or other resources exist, according to a county report.

“I find it almost ludicrous to issue tickets for people unhoused,” said Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger. “It is counterintuitive and it is not the way to address what’s going on on our streets.”

The city of Palm Springs earlier this month passed an anti-encampment law that gives police the power to arrest anyone who builds an encampment or is sleeping in a public space such as a sidewalk or park. San Francisco plans more aggressive encampment sweeps in August.

“We are not criminalizing poverty or homelessness,” declared Third District Supervisor and board chair Lindsey Horvath, reiterating a standing policy. “L.A. County jails will not be held for people arrested solely with regard to anti-encampment practices.”

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna agreed with the county stand and said the Sheriff’s Department has a policy to not arrest people just for being homeless. But if someone living in a homeless encampment is threatening public safety or suspected of committing a crime, they will be arrested, he said.

“We will do the right thing by getting homeless individuals the right services,” Luna told the board. “If there is criminal activity occurring, people will be arrested.”

Luna further clarified that the Sheriff’s Department generally doesn’t put in jail those suspected of committing a misdemeanor. The overcrowding of Men’s Central Jail and other county incarceration facilities leaves no room for offenders convicted of most misdemeanors, he explained. The county is under court order to reduce the population of overcrowded jail facilities.

The board motion does not tell cities how to handle homeless encampments. Instead, it will distribute the county’s encampment guidelines to the county’s 88 cities and is asking city organizations to pledge they will not  move homeless people to other cities or into unincorporated county communities.

Luna said he has a verbal promise from city police chiefs to not practice “homeless dumping.” He has also met with 42 cities that contract with the Sheriff’s Department to listen to their concerns about homeless encampments close to schools or that block sidewalks.

Horvath, who represents the San Fernando Valley and the Westside, both in Los Angeles, said she sympathized with community concerns.

“We are all frustrated with encampments that block sidewalks and RVs that block our roadways,” Horvath said. “I appreciate everyone is out of patience. We are, too, But people just don’t disappear.”

Fourth District Supervisor Janice Hahn said many cities are experiencing “encampment fatigue.” She said some see the Supreme Court ruling as untying their hands. “They are tired of seeing encampments when they go to work or take their kids to school. But our jails are not the appropriate space to put someone experiencing homelessness.”

The county board, staff and Sheriff Luna instead emphasized their approaches to moving the unhoused out of encampments and into temporary housing, and eventually permanent housing.

About $120 million is going to pay for the county’s Pathway Home program.

Cheri Todoroff, executive director of the county’s Homeless Initiative, said the county has created thousands of interim housing beds. She said they need cooperation from more cities and motel owners to establish more temporary housing. Recently, the West Covina City Council stalled a plan to allow a temporary shelter in a motel after intense opposition.

“We need to have locations set us up through motels at local jurisdictions,” Todoroff said. “We need cities to partner with us.” She also said the other challenge is moving formerly homeless people into permanent housing. That requires more master leases with apartment owners in the private rental market.

Creating interim housing is expensive, she said. The interim housing program runs 24/7 and includes a substantial staffing cost. The cost ranges between $50,000 and $60,000 per person, Todoroff said.

Barger cited a Pathway Home project in Duarte, Monrovia and nearby unincorporated areas that cleared several encampments and brought 30 people into housing. In Palmdale, the program moved 60 people into housing who were living in encampments and RVs.

First District Supervisor Hilda Solis said through programs and nonprofit partners, the county added 500 beds for homeless in her district in the past three years.

Capt. Geoffrey Deedrick leads the LASD Homeless Outreach Sheriff Team (HOST) which teams a deputy with a homeless outreach worker. They visit encampments and after forming relationships they arrange temporary shelter usually at motels, he said. They’ve been seen along the San Gabriel River banks in the San Gabriel Valley.

Since 2015, the HOST program has not issued a citation or made any arrests, Luna said. Deedrick said often they track down the homeless person’s relative and that’s another way to find housing.

Some who see the Sheriff’s Department’s treatment of inmates at county jails as a problem don’t want a uniformed officer to go to homeless encampments because they think it sends an intimidating message.

“It is absurd the Sheriff Department is a model for being kind and compassionate,” said Anthony Arena with Justice LA Coalition. “Why are we involving the Sheriff’s Department at all?”

A report on homeless encampments and support from local cities will come back to the supervisors in about four months.