Los Angeles won't clear homeless encampments

In a rare pushback against Gov. Newsom, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors declared Tuesday that county jails will not be used to house people who were removed from their encampments.

The board passed a motion Tuesday, affirming that people in encampments cannot be taken to county jails.

“Just by sweeping people off the streets off sidewalks and putting them in jail is not going to settle this issue,” Supervisor Hilda Solis said.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass had already condemned Newsom’s decision last week, saying removing makeshift shelters would criminalize homeless people without effectively addressing the homeless crisis.

With supporting testimony from Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna and the head of the Homeless Services Authority, the county maintained that its care-first approach, prioritizing services, was working.

Supervisor Kathryn Barger believes, while she supports Newsom’s directive to clear encampments, she does not think the county’s infrastructure is ready to handle that could come next.

“What will it take to build up capacity to actually address the encampment situation front and center? And we don’t have an answer,” Barger said. “And the question is what is going to cost? We don’t have an answer.”