Homeless encampment at Dockweiler State Beach being cleared after complaints from nearby residents
PLAYA DEL REY, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Following recent complaints from Play del Rey residents, crews on Thursday morning launched a cleanup operation to remove a homeless encampment at Dockweiler State Beach.
The residents' complaints stem from about 10 tents that were set up on the sand, leading to the discovery of feces and hypodermic needles in the area.
Park rangers on Wednesday posted Los Angeles County Sanitation flyers that described Thursday's planned cleanup operation, which began after 6:30 a.m.
"Our beaches are jurisdictionally complex, involving the State, County, and City. The area is scheduled for a coordinated operation on Thursday morning, including our Coastal CARE+ Team - a new resource we secured for our beach and coastal communities in our City budget," Los Angeles Councilmember Traci Park, whose district includes Playa del Rey, said in a statement. "I have called upon the State and County to step up and provide long-term solutions rather than band-aids for addressing this and other State and County-owned or maintained sites throughout CD11."
Angeles Carson was one of the people displaced by the operation.
"I chose this location because of my friends," she told ABC7. "We came together to discuss what to do about our plans."
El Segundo resident Chris Vallas expressed frustration about the encampment.
"I'm down here every day. They're building two-bedroom tents on the beach, they got oceanfront property," he said in an interview. "They've taken over a county building down the way here."
Play del Rey resident Lucy Han helps run the local nonprofit Friends of the Jungle. After such cleanup operations, she said, homeless people often "wait for the cleaning to happen and all that, and then for people to leave, and then they move back. If it's a prime spot it could be under a tree, it could be on the side of a hill, so yeah, that's a problem.
"The thing is, the come once a month," Han said. "And we really appreciate everything Traci Park is doing for us but it's not enough."
Gov. Gavin Newsom last month ordered state agencies to start removing homeless encampments on state land in his boldest action yet following a Supreme Court ruling allowing cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces.
The executive order directs state agencies "to move urgently to address dangerous encampments while supporting and assisting the individuals living in them." It also provides guidance for cities and counties to do the same, which applies pressure on them, though they are not legally bound to the order.
California is home to roughly one-third of the nation's population of homeless people.
Standing in front of a cleared homeless encampment in Los Angeles earlier this month, Newsom vowed to start taking state funding away from cities and counties that are not doing enough to move people out of encampments and into shelter. The governor joined Caltrans on Aug. 8 to clear several encampment sites in the area.
"I want to see results," Newsom said at the time. "I don't want to read about them. I don't want to see the data. I want to see it."
The state has spent roughly $24 billion under Newsom's leadership to clean up streets and house people. That includes at least $3.2 billion in grants given to local government to build shelters, clear encampments and connect homeless people to services as they see fit, Newsom said.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and L.A. County officials have pushed back, saying the governor's approach won't work. Two weeks ago, Newsom praised Bass' work at successfully reducing the number of people sleeping outside in Los Angeles, adding his frustration is mostly directed toward counties.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
