On Tuesday, LAPD released a new report that says use-of-force incidents within the homeless community are up. In fact, more than one out of three LAPD officers have had to use force when coming in contact with a homeless person.
“There’s going to be more contact between the police and persons experiencing homelessness,” LAPD homeless coordinator Cmdr. Donald Graham said at the Police Commission meeting. “The expected result of that will be increases in uses of force.”
The report shows that during the third quarter of 2019, use-of-force had to be used on the homeless a total of 217 times, which is a 26% increase from this time last year. However, the report did not include what type of force had to be used...
“The first thing I’d be looking at is the force used,” Graham said. “If there is a specific increase in, say, baton usage on the homeless population, obviously that would be very concerning.”
Misdemeanor arrests stayed about the same from the previous year, but felony arrests increased by 8%.
“Individuals experiencing homelessness that are preying on other members within that homeless community or that are committing crimes of violence or property crimes in the neighborhood will have the attention of the Los Angeles Police Department,” he added.
Check out the full report on the Los Angeles Times.