The struggle Los Angeles is going through mirrors what Sacramento struggles with in the Parkway’s Lower Reach area.
An excerpt.
Do-or-Die Moment Seen for L.A.'s Skid Row
The city and ACLU meet next week with a federal mediator over a lawsuit on sidewalk sleeping. The court-ordered talks seek a compromise.
By Cara Mia DiMassa and Richard Winton,Times Staff Writers August 19, 2006
The future of the LAPD's crackdown on crime on downtown's skid row could be decided Monday as city officials and the American Civil Liberties Union go before a federal mediator in an attempt to resolve a lawsuit that some blame for stalling the city's efforts.
With statistics showing the number of homeless encampments rising and arrests declining on skid row, there is a growing consensus that the mediation marks a do-or-die moment in the city's much-discussed effort to clean up the area.
"I think the future of skid row hinges on it," said Ruth Schwartz, founder and executive director of Shelter Partnership, a nonprofit organization based downtown. The court-ordered, closed-door session is designed to forge a compromise between the city and the ACLU, which filed suit three years ago to prevent the LAPD from arresting homeless people for camping on sidewalks.
In April, a federal appeals court ruled in the ACLU's favor, creating division among city leaders on an issue that they had vowed to tackle with a united front. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a former board member and past president of the ACLU of Southern California, has said he thinks the city should not appeal the lawsuit and should instead find other ways to police the streets of downtown.
But Police Chief William J. Bratton and City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo vowed to fight the suit, saying it would be difficult to clean up skid row otherwise. Several people familiar with the case said these differing views have created tension and made the city's position on the court decision harder to ascertain.
The LAPD is seeking the ability to remove homeless camps during the day and night. But the ACLU has balked, accusing Bratton of using the lawsuit as a scapegoat when the real problem is a lack of police officers. Sources close to the negotiations said the mediation so far has been heated. For his part, Bratton said he won't send more officers into downtown until the issue is resolved.
When Bratton arrived in L.A. four years ago, he vowed to clean up the streets using the same "broken windows" policing style he employed to clean up Times Square in New York in the early 1990s. But he has complained that the ACLU suit, along with a prohibition on "cite and release arrests," has stymied his efforts and resulted in a plunge in downtown arrests.
