This report aims to illuminate the experiences of communities directly affected by the City of Los Angeles’s “no sit, sleep, lie” law, Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 41.18 (LAMC 41.18), and to investigate how public resources are entangled in its enforcement. It scrutinizes the roles of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, and Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority in implementing LAMC 41.18. Does this regulation effectively facilitate the transition of unhoused individuals into permanent housing? Does it ensure equal regulation of public space? Does it foster community building and cultural preservation? Furthermore, how does it impact encampments, the community, homeless individuals, residents, community organizers, youth, and street vendors? As we gather and listen to the experiences of people residing unhoused across the city, we strongly suspect that nearly all infractions across the City of Los Angeles are being written up against houseless people.
“Separate And Unequal” A Comprehensive Community Assessment of LACM 41.18 – Los Angeles Community Action Network
In a survey of over 100 unhoused people in the City of Los Angeles, an overwhelming majority said their belongings were taken and that police forced them off of public property. Nearly 40 percent said they were not offered any housing after such enforcement.
These are some takeaways from a survey released by the LA Community Action Network (LACAN) on the effects 41.18, an LA municipal code that criminalizes homelessness.
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