Safer Cities Initiative

[Moorbey]

The second “anniversary” of the Safer Cities Initiative (SCI) in downtown Los Angeles is coming in September. Join downtown residents in calling for the end of SCI and demanding housing and respect for all human rights in our communities!

Please save the date for this event – more details to come as we get closer to the date.

We are calling on all social justice organizations to join us.



…justice too long delayed is justice denied”

--Rev. Martin Luther King Junior



Thursday, September 25, 2008

10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Skid Row Community – exact place to be determined.



As many of you know, SCI was touted as a public safety initiative that would include increased housing and services for homeless residents of downtown. Instead it has consisted entirely of punitive efforts that have damaged our community and residents for the long-term. For example:



v In the first year of SCI, LAPD issued about 12,000 citations, primarily for “walk/don’t walk” violations. This is 48 to 69 times the rate of citations given City-wide. Citations given to homeless and other low-income people inevitably lead to warrants and arrest.

v About 750 arrests have been made PER MONTH, in a community that’s home to only about 13,000 people. The majority of arrests are drug related and, due to efforts by the District Attorney to escalate charges, most people will be ineligible for Food Stamps and subsidized housing upon their release.

v Law enforcement has not focused on serious crimes. Among the first 1,350 arrests by the SCI task force, only 22 were for serious, violent crimes.

v The cost of the extra police officers alone is $6 million per year, not to mention court and incarceration costs. $6 million per year could provide housing subsidies and services for 350 homeless people. Jail costs $63 per day, housing and services cost $45 per day.



It is unacceptable that the City of Los Angeles has implemented this failed policy for two years already – and it simply cannot continue. Many downtown residents and organizations have opposed this policy since its inception. However, it is time for the entire City of Los Angeles to speak out and demand an end to SCI before it enters its third year.



For additional information please contact Pete White at 213-228-0024



Pete White

CEO

Los Angeles Community Action Network

(213) 228-0024

www.cangress. org