Informed Opinions on Today’s Topics : Should Police Patrol Sites of Day Laborers?

Day laborers seeking employment from street-side locations are a source of controversy. They are hired by contractors and homeowners alike, but neighbors complain of workers’ drinking, urinating in public and other problems.

Last month, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick requested assistance from LAPD’s equestrian unit to police a long-established site on Fallbrook Avenue south of Ventura Boulevard. It is believed to be the first time the unit was used to patrol a day labor site in the city.

Is this an appropriate response to the problem of day laborers?

Councilwoman Laura Chick:

“I don’t think it was an inappropriate response. . . . The equestrian unit and its officers are the most welcomed in the community of any LAPD department. . . . The fact that they were mounted police did not make it more menacing, but certainly more visible . . . unfortunately, some of the people who are gathering are not day laborers, but drug dealers, vagrants, drunks, etc. . . . Part of the problem is in finding a feasible location, and we have not found that.”

Pablo Alvarado, coordinator of the Day Labor Project, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles:

“There are problems associated with day laborers. . . . Some are real, some are perceived. . . . This is part of the whole anti-immigrant sentiment. . . . People expect the workers to behave like saints without talking to each other, without telling jokes or laughing. . . . The workers tell me [bringing in the police] is criminalizing the action of seeking work. They say the police pay attention to the concerns of the business community and some local residents, but don’t talk to the workers like they are an active party. . . . There are certain people who want to get rid of the workers and not negotiate or think critically about how to solve this issue in a human way.”

Genethia Hayes, interim executive director, Southern Christian Leadership Conference:

“It seems to me that a police presence should not be the response. . . . We do not believe that response is appropriate. We believe that community members and homeowners have a right to a safe environment, businesses have a right to do commerce. . . . What we do feel is that the appropriate response is to bring homeowners, day laborers and business people together to try to work out a solution so that everyone’s rights can be respected. These people who gather are legally seeking work.”

Ellie Vargas of Woodland Hills, a member of the Community Police Advisory Board:

“The men who are legitimately looking for a job get work early or go home. It’s the criminal element and the gambling, drinking, urinating and [workers] spilling over into residential neighborhoods that are the problems. . . . I think the police are handling it very well. There are things that they can and cannot do. . . . It is not illegal to solicit work from a city street. What might alleviate some of that problem is to modify the law so they can solicit work in a business area, but not in a residential area.”

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