LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Homelessness has become a growing concern across the region, but an analysis released today found that residents in Granada Hills made the highest rate of complaints about encampments during the first six months of the year.
The nonprofit news organization Crosstown, which is based out of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, collected data on calls made to the city's 311 service line and traced them to the city's 99 neighborhood council boundaries.
According to Crosstown, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority figures show Granada Hills has 33 homeless people, but residents made 178 calls to the service line about them between January and June -- equaling 5.4 calls per homeless person.
Downtown Los Angeles, which has one of the highest concentrations of homeless people, generated more than 1,500 calls for about 5,100 homeless people, less than one call per every three people.
Michael Benedetto, the Granada Hills South Neighborhood Council vice president, told Crosstown that older residents in the area particularly vocal about the homelessness problem.
``Our council gets a lot of complaints,'' Benedetto said.
According to Crosstown, when a call is made to 311 about a homeless encampment, the complaint it routed to the Department of Sanitation. The organization noted that there are often multiple calls about the same encampment.
After a complaint is made, the city can post a notice that a cleanup could be coming within 24 hours to the area, but it must be first approved by LAHSA.