Federal Suit Charges Police With Harassing Homeless on Skid Row

Advocates for the homeless sued the city of Los Angeles, Police Chief Bernard C. Parks and the commander of LAPD’s Central Division in federal court late Monday to stop the Police Department’s recent practice of strictly enforcing loitering and other laws in the skid row area.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, said the police practices of citing the homeless in skid row for minor offenses are unconstitutional and amounted to harassment.

The lawsuit contends that the possessions of numerous homeless people who were stopped for questioning by officers were seized and destroyed. Some homeless people were threatened with arrest if they objected, the suit said.

In one instance, a homeless man said officers took his belongings when he went to take a shower at a homeless facility, the suit said.

Since September, the commander of Central Division, Capt. Stuart Maislin, has ordered his officers to cite the homeless for blocking the sidewalk and jaywalking. Officers have also been rousing the homeless early in the morning, asking for identification and taking those with outstanding warrants to jail.

In parts of skid row, a 50-block area east and south of the Civic Center, entire streets have been cleared of vagrants.

Recently, Maislin told The Times that an increase in violent crime in the area caused him to change the division’s practice of generally ignoring the homeless. Violent crime has decreased since then, he said.

A spokesman for the Police Department declined to comment late Monday on the suit.

Attorney Carol A. Sobel of Santa Monica, one of several civil rights lawyers who prepared the suit, said papers would be filed today for a temporary restraining order.

“We hope to have a hearing before the end of this week,” Sobel said.