Skiddoo Row

Early each weekday morning, a seven-vehicle city convoy sweeps into Skid Row to clean up the sidewalks and alleys around homeless encampments.

Los Angeles Department of Public Works officials say the program is aimed at preventing disease from spreading. Skid Row homeless advocates say that, while they support cleanliness efforts, they believe that the sheer size of the caravans shows insensitivity to the homeless.

The cleanup convoys consist of two dump trucks, a four-man pickup truck, a water truck, two police cars and a front-loader, which the denizens of Skid Row refer to as “Jaws.”

When the convoy comes across an encampment, police officers order residents to gather their possessions within five minutes and step aside. Whatever belongings and trash remain on the sidewalk are swept into the street, scooped up by the front-loader and dumped into waiting trucks. The water truck then hoses down the sidewalk.

Homeless advocate Alice Callaghan said she has “no problem with cleaning the sidewalks.”

“But the amount of equipment is clearly unnecessary,” added Callaghan, director of Las Familias Del Pueblo, a family day center on Skid Row. “I’ve been out on the streets where people curse the equipment and shout ‘We’re not filthy, we are human beings.’ ”

Board of Public Works President Ed Avila said the city has little choice.

“Because the trash accumulates so rapidly in the area, we have to go in and clean it up,” he said. “For the purpose of cleaning, you can’t just take a pickup in. It’s not going to work.”

Last year, the city paid $500 each to 41 street people whose belongings were destroyed in a surprise police sweep of two encampments outside City Hall. But sweep-up signs are now posted on Skid Row, and the homeless are also given warning by police before the street maintenance trucks move in, Avila said.