Full Notification

Residents in the area of the Hollywood Bowl had filed numerous complaints regarding threats and acts of violence, thefts, panhandling, littering, people bathing in residents pools, defecation, and fires started by transients in encampments near brush in the hills surrounding the Hollywood Bowl.

Several times over the previous month, Parks Bureau sheriff's deputies made contact with more than a dozen transients living in the hills, joined by homeless shelter outreach workers. Offers were made for shelter, medical and mental health treatment, and other opportunities to relocate to an environment safer for both the transients and nearby community.

On Wednesday, October 27, 2010, personnel from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Parks Bureau, Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA), City of Los Angeles Fire Department, People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), Healthbridge Children’s Hospital, California Highway Patrol, California Department of Transportation, Los Angeles County Department of Animal Control, and the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health Services, responded to the hills above the Hollywood Bowl, for the Hollywood Bowl Homeless Outreach Project.

Fourteen men voluntarily left the encampments. Ten of the men voluntarily accepted emergency shelter; one was taken to a local hospital for overdue medical treatment. The remaining three were fed, and after cleaning up and given some clothes, they left the area. About 50 workers with the California Department of Transportation, raked up and collected trash left by the transients, that required four dump trucks to haul away.

The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) is dedicated to the preservation and management of local open space and parkland, watershed lands, trails, and wildlife habitat. The MRCA manages and provides ranger services for almost 60,000 acres of public lands. The parks are owned by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and provide comprehensive education and interpretation programs for the public.

Sheriff's Parks Bureau Captain Stephen Smith stated, “We are pleased with the outcome of this project. We were able to address the residents concerns and help some of the homeless as well. Without the hard work and dedication of all the participating agencies, we might not have been so successful. We look forward to working with these agencies again and maintain what have we started here today.”

In addition to its efforts to assist sheriff's deputies with today’s operation, the MRCA will provide habitat restoration for the public parkland that has been degraded. The MRCA will also follow up with further clean up and patrol to prevent illegal and hazardous encampments from re-establishing.

The Hollywood Bowl facility is owned and operated by the County of Los Angeles. Thus the Parks Bureau of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has policing responsibility.

SEE ATTACHED PHOTOS VIA THE HYPERLINK BELOW


Press Release
Parks Bureau

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

Deputy Johnie Jones
2101 N. Highland Avenue, Bungalow – D
Los Angeles, CA 90068
(323) 845-0054
www.lasd.org


Mike Parker, Captain
Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
(323) 267-4800
www.lasd.org


Leroy D. Baca, Sheriff



Watch the related KTLA-TV 5 news report on Oct. 27, 2010.

Note: If you visit the KTLA news website via the below hyperlink, you are leaving the contents prepared by the LASD. This connection is provided for your convenience. The LASD does not endorse advertised products.

Hollywood Hills Homeless Encampment Shut Down

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-hollywood-hills-homeless-encampment,0,1722929.story