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In a move that some have criticized as “exploiting” the homelessness crisis for political gain, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva sent deputies to the Venice promenade on Tuesday to begin keeping his promise to clean up the area of homeless settlements by July 4.
Villanueva’s decision is unusual since the Los Angeles Police Department has jurisdiction over law enforcement over Venice, not the Sheriff’s Department. Police Chief Michel Moore said he was aware of the sheriff’s efforts in the area and that the two spoke to each other several weeks ago, ahead of Villanueva’s first visit to the promenade on May 26.
Over the next few weeks, Villanueva plans to use assistants with the department’s Homeless Outreach Services team to deliver resources, including vouchers for temporary shelters through Project Roomkey, to homeless people living in the city. along the Venice promenade, the sheriff’s office said.
The Sheriff’s Department plans to use law enforcement, such as arrests, for those who choose not to use the resources offered and decide to stay in the seaside area, Moore said, recalling details of his conversation with Villanueva.
Some homeless advocates believe the week-long plan reflects efforts by the city and the LAPD that led to the high-profile removal of homeless people from Echo Park Lake in March, which sparked massive protests .
Homeless Outreach MPs walked the promenade on Tuesday at the start of its exit plan. The sheriff’s department said it would send deputies again on Wednesday.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Moore acknowledged the outreach work that Los Angeles City Councilor Mike Bonin, city workers and community partners have already provided to homeless residents in recent weeks. During that time, the number of homeless residents living on the Venice promenade increased from 240 to 130, Moore said.
Bonin, whose district includes Venice, said he did not welcome Villanueva’s plan to remove the homeless population from the area, questioning his motives for the effort.
“Villanueva has not offered any real help,” Bonin said in a statement posted on Twitter. “It’s a serious crisis. We need people who are interested in solving it, not in exploiting it.
He added that the sheriff was exploiting Venice to promote the idea “that crime and homelessness are caused by progressives and the only solution is tougher laws, longer sentences and more prisons,” which Bonin called it a “heinous lie”.
Peggy Kennedy, a homeless activist on the Venice Justice Committee and LA Street Watch, said Villanueva was using the situation and capitalizing on the anti-homeless prejudices of some members of the Venice community with a view to his re-election in 2022.
Kennedy, whose group provides legal aid to homeless people living in Venice, said the use of law enforcement to tackle homelessness adds unnecessary pressure and coercion to those living on the streets. .
“How is it appropriate to accept services when you are offering them under cover of the law with armed agents?” Kennedy said.
Villanueva once took to the boardwalk in late May and again on Monday, this time surrounded by cameras, saying he wanted to understand the homeless crisis facing the Los Angeles beach community and that he hopes correct what the city rulers failed to do.
Also on Monday, Los Angeles City Councilor Joe Buscaino and the mayoral candidate visited the Venice promenade, using the community’s homeless population as a backdrop to unveil his plan to tackle homelessness. His plan has also met criticism from homeless advocates due to Buscaino’s reliance on law enforcement and his anti-homeless rhetoric.
Throughout the pandemic, the city of Los Angeles has imposed a moratorium on banning daytime camping in public spaces. The moratorium is based on CDC guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and has limited the efforts of LAPD officers against encampments such as the one that formed in Venice.
However, Moore said he hoped city council lifted the moratorium as COVID-19 transmission rates have declined in the county and businesses begin to reopen. He wants his agents to resume enforcement of the camping ban.
Elizabeth Chou contributed to this report.
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