Teams of police officers, outreach workers and city sanitation workers are ready to respond to complaints about homeless encampments around Los Angeles, city leaders and law enforcement officials announced today.
The Homeless Outreach and Proactive Engagement teams will enforce 56.11, a city ordinance prohibiting daytime encampments and public storage of unattended personal property.
The HOPE teams will also try to connect homeless individuals to services and housing, as well as remove trash from the streets, as part of a clean-up program that began rolling out earlier this year.
Three teams began operating in downtown Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley and the Westside in recent months, with a fourth team set to begin in South Los Angeles next month.
Each team consists of 10 police officers and a sergeant, homeless outreach workers, city sanitation workers and city attorneys who will be available eight hours a day, six days a week.
Since May, the teams have responded to 1,300 complaints about encampments and removed 500 tons of trash, 20,000 pounds of hazardous materials and 1,500 sharp objects and needles, according to the city.
Mayor Eric Garcetti, who joined Councilwoman Nury Martinez at a news conference in Sun Valley, called the HOPE team program “an innovative and powerful example of how we are serving residents by working collaboratively with city and county departments.”
“Our first responders — whether they are police officers or outreach workers — interact directly with L.A.’s homeless population on a daily basis,” Garcetti said.
“HOPE serves as a homelessness ‘super team,”‘ he said. “Our teams are sharing data to better target their outreach to homeless Angelenos — and coordinated community cleanups — to ensure the health and safety of our neighborhoods, while getting our most vulnerable the help they need.”
Martinez said she sought to get the first HOPE team operating in the San Fernando Valley in May.
“We must address the homeless crisis with comprehensive outreach, but we must also ensure our kids have safe parks and clean sidewalks — which requires us to clean up encampments,” she said. “The HOPE teams are a great start.”
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said the HOPE program provides the support police officers need to address homelessness.
“It is impossible to ignore the pervasive problem of homelessness in Los Angeles,” Beck said. “The men and women of the LAPD often find themselves confronted by complex situations when they deal with Angelenos living on the street. The resources HOPE provides makes those encounters more positive and productive.”
