SURPRISE! L.A. is the Meanest City!
July 14, 2009 9:42 PM
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Two national homeless advocacy groups say Los Angeles is the nation's meanest city.
A report released Tuesday says the city's two-year-old police crackdown on Skid Row has trapped thousands of poor, homeless and disabled residents in the criminal justice system.
The so-called Safe City Initiative targets the homeless by making it illegal to sleep, eat or sit in public spaces in the 50-square block area of downtown.
The report said the crackdown resulted in 1,000 citations a month for crimes such as jaywalking.
The report was the result of a survey of 273 cities by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless.
