Nearly a year after a homeless encampment took shape on Poinsettia Place across from a park in the Melrose area, the city has linked many of the individuals staying there with services and most of the tents are gone.

An encampment on Poinsettia Place has largely disappeared. Only two collapsed tents and some personal belongings remained. (photo by Edwin Folven)

For months, the encampment lined the sidewalk for two blocks in front of a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power electrical distribution facility between Willoughby Avenue and Romaine Street. The Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation held eight cleanups at the site over the past year, Los Angeles Police Department officers made frequent stops to address illegal activity and organizations serving homeless individuals conducted tireless outreach. The efforts are paying off, and during the past two weeks the encampment has largely disappeared. Some people staying there accepted treatment and services, some were arrested and others voluntarily left. On Tuesday morning, only two tents remained (both collapsed during the day in compliance with the law), no one was present and the sidewalk was mostly clear.

“It’s a big relief,” said Peter Nichols, co-founder of the Melrose Action Neighborhood Watch, which organized residents and worked closely with the city to address the encampment. “People are feeling safer. There is a tangible sense of peace and quiet that has returned to the area. They did go to great lengths to get services out there. The city has faithfully and finally come through.”

Police confirmed some people at the encampment were involved in criminal activity in the surrounding neighborhood such as trespassing, drug use, thefts, burglaries, committing lewd acts, and urinating and defecating in public. Two fires in a vacant residence on Poinsettia Place were attributed to homeless individuals. A female resident was stabbed in the torso by a homeless woman in June after she found the woman in her yard, police also confirmed. The stabbing victim was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, but Nichols said the fires and the stabbing were the final straws.

“There has been a constant police presence in the area,” he added. “We have had a lot of positive feedback about that.”

Senior Lead Officer Timothy Estevez, who was assigned to the Melrose area three weeks ago on an interim basis, said many people from the encampment moved on because of the stepped-up police presence. Three weeks ago, the Wilshire Division command staff assigned a special two-officer unit to address issues involving homelessness, specifically the encampment. The officers visited the site multiple times a day, many times accompanied by outreach workers from social service agencies. The goal was to get as many people to accept services as possible while reducing the criminal element.

“A lot of the residents there moved on. Some of them accepted outreach and some just realized they didn’t want to hang around cops all day,” Estevez said. “Our goal wasn’t to displace them. We realize we can’t arrest our way out of the problem. Our ultimate goal was to make sure they were in compliance with the law … and to provide housing and something sustainable to get them off the streets and on their two feet.”

Estevez said officers will continue stopping by the site daily to monitor the situation. Authorities have also been working with police in neighboring divisions to figure out where the homeless individuals who left the encampment went.

“That’s the million-dollar question,” Estevez said. “Some may have moved on to other encampments in Hollywood. When we know where they are, we can get resources to them. Bottom line is with that encampment, it got unruly and unacceptable, and now it’s peaceful. We want to make sure it stays that way.”

Estevez did not have statistics about arrests or the number of people who accepted services. There were approximately 25 to 30 people staying there at any given time.

Nichols credited the LAPD’s Wilshire Division and Councilman Paul Koretz, 5th District, for the changes. He said Koretz called him personally and pledged to address the problems. Koretz’s spokesman Alison Simard said the encampment was one of the councilman’s top priorities and he coordinated with multiple city agencies to get results.

“The councilman said, ‘look, enough is enough,’” Simard said. “What it came down to was that being homeless is not illegal, but for everybody’s safety, we had to address the criminal element. It was a coordinated effort between many, many city departments.”

Nichols added that while the situation has improved, residents are concerned the encampment will return. National Night Out Against Crime will be observed on Aug. 7 with an annual event at Poinsettia Park. Nichols said residents are encouraged to turn out in droves.

“Residents need to remain vigilant,” Nichols added. “They feel safer now, but let’s hope that continues.”