How would YOU resolve LA's homeless problem? (Los Angeles, Kennedy: camps, tax)

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by Derpistan

I have no problem with CC, but I honestly don't think it's going to put a significant dent in crimes committed by homeless people.

Crazy people aren't really worried about getting shot.

Nor are they worried about being arrested, so that's not going to be a deterrent, either. However, they WOULD be concerned about losing what little stuff they have. Hence, tent cities being banned is an initiative I can very easily get behind.

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by majoun

Chicago has gun laws as strict as ours.

Oh, really?

[cyberfx1024]

Originally Posted by highlanderfil

Oh, really?

Yes, really. It is a stated FACT that Chicago has some of harshest gun laws on the books in the country. So you want to point to a story that a law abiding gun owner shot a hoodlum as your point? How does that make any sense at all? California is gives out CCWs per the rules of each county, counties like SB and Kern County are relatively easy (California wise) to obtain a CCW. All the while LA County it is next to impossible to obtain one. Yes, if people had more respect for other people and that they might be packing then they are less likely to commit a crime.

Before Chicago had to law change you could have a gun in your house but it had to be in pieces in different parts of the house.

[Count David]

And Chicago doesn't have homeless () because there are parts of town that are completely or effectively abandoned. Ripe for squatting if you please. Does LA want that too?

Anyway, I solve homeless problems by not letting them affect my daily life. I ignore panhandlers. Homelessness is a choice for many people.

Another solution: favelas.

I don't know how CCW is a solution to a homeless problem. When you're mentally ill (or on drugs) you either don't know or don't care that you're being threatened (or are threatening yourself). Deterrence doesn't work on everybody.

I think many people ITT are downplaying the causes and realities of homelessness, mental illness, etc., "Round em up, bus em out, shoot em", etc. etc. doesn't fix anything until the reasons are addressed adequately.

[Ceece]

Take some of the money being wasted (yes wasted) on go-nowhere programs to deal with homelessness in place. Create a series of SRO type buildings somewhere cheap on the outskirts and fund things THERE (treatment, food, other assistance, etc.) and make that the default place to go. It will take money but I think money that is already being spent on the patchwork we currently have. No camping on sidewalks, beaches or freeway underpasses...go directly to these facilities. It doesn't have to be pretty, and it shouldn't be permanent for many either, just end of the line support that can hopefully let them pull themselves back up. Look at each situation, find for relatives or relocate individuals to places they can find permanent support if they are lost causes, which will require those long-closed facilities that were shuttered way back when.

I realize it's probably impossible to do this with the way government runs, which is one of the real problems here. But I'd like to see an assembly line type of system in place for people with nowhere to go which could at least keep them from becoming one of the lost causes that need to be institutionalized. I think the current system leads to that more often than not. IDK, just what popped into my head.

[Kaphawoman]

1. Ban encampments. No tents, no makeshift forts allowed within city limits. For people who won't comply, police will give them the option of jail or a shelter. Enforce laws against related hazards--public defecation, public drunkenness, open air campfires, littering, etc.
2. More shelters. Surely there are buildings not in use that can be converted into shelters.
3. Institutionalize those who pose a threat to the public. It may not be permanent depending on the nature of the person's illness, but someone threatening violence to passersby should not be allowed to do so or taken to a regular jail and released the next day.
4. Enforce immigration law (at the very least, comply with ICE holds). Five homeless people died in a fire on 8th St. a couple of months ago when an illegal from Honduras set fire to the building after fighting with another squatter. He had two prior arrests on domestic violence and drug charges.
5. I know this is controversial, but I agree with Canada and some European countries who have clinics where people get high under medical supervision. People are already doing drugs in the street (see the Skid Row mass overdose recently). Get them off the street. For those who want to change, make access to rehab easier. There should be open communication between police, medical staff, drug counselors, and shelters.
6. One-way bus pass for people that really do want to leave the city and have family/friends elsewhere.

[adr3naline]

Kaphawoman for Governor.

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by cyberfx1024

So you want to point to a story that a law abiding gun owner shot a hoodlum as your point?

No, I want to point to a story that points out that CCW has increased gun violence. You and other proponents of it fail to consider the externalities that come with CCW. Decreasing homeless violence, even if we accept it as a valid premise, will not exist in a vacuum.

[Derpistan]

Originally Posted by Kaphawoman

1. Ban encampments. No tents, no makeshift forts allowed within city limits. For people who won't comply, police will give them the option of jail or a shelter. Enforce laws against related hazards--public defecation, public drunkenness, open air campfires, littering, etc.
2. More shelters. Surely there are buildings not in use that can be converted into shelters.
3. Institutionalize those who pose a threat to the public. It may not be permanent depending on the nature of the person's illness, but someone threatening violence to passersby should not be allowed to do so or taken to a regular jail and released the next day.
4. Enforce immigration law (at the very least, comply with ICE holds). Five homeless people died in a fire on 8th St. a couple of months ago when an illegal from Honduras set fire to the building after fighting with another squatter. He had two prior arrests on domestic violence and drug charges.
5. I know this is controversial, but I agree with Canada and some European countries who have clinics where people get high under medical supervision. People are already doing drugs in the street (see the Skid Row mass overdose recently). Get them off the street. For those who want to change, make access to rehab easier. There should be open communication between police, medical staff, drug counselors, and shelters.
6. One-way bus pass for people that really do want to leave the city and have family/friends elsewhere.

All of this sounds good to me. I honestly don't understand why a system like this can't be implemented. What is stopping politicians in ANY state from putting these types of programs in place?

[orcadrvr]

1. Ban encampments, as suggested above.

2. Institutionalize, for increasingly longer periods of time, those who are drunk or stoned in public. Not jail, but "drunk farms" or mental health institutions as needed.

3. Institutionalize in mental facilities those who have chronic mental health issues. Give them the required medications, for free, which will enable them to live a normal life. If they refuse to take them, institutionalize them for increasingly longer periods of time (up to several years at a time in extreme cases).

4. Deport any illegals who are living on the street.

5. Arrest any homeless with outstanding warrants.