Dear, Council President Herb J. Wesson, Jr.

I am writing this letter to ask you to support us in our effort to decriminalize homelessness. We
demand a change to the 2015 ordinance that allows police to more easily confiscate property from the
homeless, also known as Municipal Code 56.11. This ordinance strictly criminalizes the right to have
property in public spaces, which causes a severe impact on homeless people. We have come up with three
possible changes to improve this ordinance:

Police should not take any medicine or important papers from the homeless.
Homeless people should have enough time, 1-3 hours, and weather proof containers to
relocate the rest of their belongings.
Instead of a 24 hour notice there should be a 3 staged warning process that involves: 1)
checking if they have medication and any illnesses; 2) informing them about homeless
shelters they can go to; and 3) guiding them to homeless shelters or helping them relocate
in a peaceful manner.

In April, 2016, a federal judge issued an action to prevent police and sanitation officers to
confiscate and destroy the property of homeless people without a notice. The judge also ordered the city
to store the belongings in a place where they can be recovered. We know that ever since this lawsuit, the
city has revised the ordinance to allow the homeless to keep whatever property they can fit in a 60 gallon
trash bin. However, homeless people can be cited or arrested for refusing to take down their tents in
daylight hours.
We feel that we need your support in changing the policy of confiscating homeless property. The
LA County Sheriff recently stated that they will not arrest homeless people unless they repeatedly
endanger public health and safety. The LA Sheriff says he doesn't want to criminalize the homeless. The
article explains that L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell unveiled a new policy Tuesday evening,
instructing deputies to avoid arresting the homeless and try to get them into services instead. This really
helps because the sheriffs department will now help the homeless people and avoid being harsh on them.
Our demand is really important for the safety of homeless people and they deserve to keep all their
belongings by their side. By helping us change this policy it can really help change the lives of homeless
people.

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