[dropcap size=big]W[/dropcap]hen neighbors or an L.A. City Council office complains about a homeless encampment, city sanitation employees and contractors go out to document the sites and collect property or debris left on public pathways. This often results in homeless individuals losing their shelters and personal property, further demeaning an already marginal group of Angelenos.
On a recent rainy day, L.A. Taco went to Koreatown as sanitation crews visited several encampment sites. I found out that this policy is particularly invasive to a unhoused person who seeks refuge in a shelter for the night. If they have left anything unattended when a worker comes around, it may not be there when they come back.
During weather events such as rain, policy is to leave makeshift shelters in place, but document and pick up anything around the encampment.
A sanitation worker, who did not want to give his name, told me that he gets a sense of pride in the work he does. He feels he is "making the city a better place for his children" by helping to clean. But the homeless Angelenos I talked to had their own perspective on the cleanups.