L.A. Times Article re Getting Rid of Tents from Skid Row

Plan Would End Homeless 'Tent Cities'

A compromise by the LAPD and ACLU limits the hours and skid row areas where people could sleep. Skeptics say it wouldn't work.

By Richard Winton, Times Staff Writer
September 19, 2006

Los Angeles officials and the American Civil Liberties Union have reached a compromise to settle a lawsuit that has prevented police from arresting homeless people who camp on the streets and sidewalks of skid row, Police Chief William J. Bratton said Monday.

Bratton, speaking to The Times' Editorial Board, declined to provide details. But sources briefed about the compromise said it would allow police to arrest people camping, sleeping or lying on sidewalks between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.

The sources said the settlement also would prohibit encampments at any time within 10 feet of any business or residential entrance.

Such rules would effectively prevent homeless people from creating "tent cities" that the Los Angeles Police Department and downtown business leaders have been trying to remove.

The complete article can be viewed here.