In Venice, residents are paying former gang members to keep tents away after city cleanups fail to stop camps from coming back.
Story Highlights
- Venice residents and businesses hired a private group of former gang members to clear encampments from doorways and alleys.
- A Venice encampment at Rose Avenue and Hampton Drive returned years after a city “Inside Safe” cleanup.
- Mayor Karen Bass says Inside Safe aims to bring people indoors and prevent re-encampment, and reports thousands moved inside.
- Studies and local reporting show cleanups often bring short dips in tents, followed by quick returns nearby.
Residents Turn to Private Help as Tents Return
Local property owners in Venice have hired “Ghost Town,” a private, unarmed team led by former gang members and former addicts, to move encampments off property lines and mediate conflicts. Fox’s Los Angeles station reported neighbors frustrated by repeat tent returns are paying for this help when city efforts do not hold. Video pieces and social posts show the group active near homes and storefronts. Residents say they want clear sidewalks, safer nights, and someone to respond quickly.
The move follows a familiar loop. City crews clear a hotspot. Outreach places some people indoors. Afterward, tents reappear on the same block or around the corner. Local news said the Rose and Hampton encampment, once cleared under the mayor’s program, later returned to that corner. The pattern has bred cynicism among homeowners and shopkeepers who feel stuck. Some now see private patrols as their only tool to stop re-encampment at their doorsteps.
What City Leaders Say Their Program Is Doing
Mayor Karen Bass says the city’s Inside Safe strategy is to bring people indoors and keep encampments from coming back. City reporting says thousands of Angelenos have moved into hotels, motels, or other interim housing through the program, and more than one thousand have reached permanent housing. Bass also warned in Venice that clearing tents is only step one, and that preventing re-population requires steady follow-up and services. Those aims set a clear bar for success.
Officials and outreach teams describe a case-by-case plan. Staff identify people in a camp, match them to interim rooms, and work toward permanent placements over time. Some individuals accept help and move indoors. Others do not, or cycle back to the street. The city’s challenge is scale and consistency. If follow-up breaks down, even for a short time, tents often return to a gap between enforcement zones or to a nearby block, erasing visible gains.
A Wider Pattern: Short-Term Drops, Quick Rebounds
Independent research has tracked what many neighbors see. A study summarized by the Los Angeles Times found that encampment cleanups, including Inside Safe operations, often produce immediate drops in tents, followed by returns to prior levels within weeks or months. Researchers saw displacement more than durable reduction. That does not mean no one gets help. It means the area-wide tent count usually rebounds unless housing, treatment, and steady enforcement align at the same time.
This Venice case fits that pattern. Local outlets reported people at Rose and Hampton said they moved during the cleanup and planned to return after crews left. Residents say they feel caught between slow public systems and fast-moving street conditions. Many on the left and the right read this as more proof that government structures serve process over results. They see tax dollars spent, but see the same tents reappear, and now see neighbors hiring private teams to do basic order work.
Public Safety, Civil Rights, and a Narrowing Middle
Homeowners want clear sidewalks for kids and seniors, and businesses want safe storefronts at opening time. Unhoused people want stability, services, and a fair process. City leaders must balance both. Federal disability rules and local law limit broad sweeps of public space. At the same time, blocked walkways violate access rules and raise fire and crime risks. When neither side gets what it needs, trust in public institutions breaks down and private fixes fill the gap.
The core question is staying power. Venice shows that quick cleanups without enough beds, treatment, and consistent follow-up do not hold. The mayor’s own targets promise prevention of re-encampment, and the data on placements shows progress for many people indoors. Yet visible tents returning to the same corner undercut public faith. Until communities see clean, safe blocks endure month after month, more neighborhoods will look for private answers outside city hall.
Sources:
redstate.com, foxla.com, fox.com, x.com, cbsnews.com, nypost.com
