West LA homeless encampment cleared under city's Inside Safe program

As part of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass's Inside Safe program, approximately 50 people living on a West Los Angeles street are being relocated to a motel for temporary housing following a targeted encampment sweep.

Early Thursday morning, Mayor Bass was at Cotner Avenue in Sawtelle, marking the 114th Inside Safe operation. She noted that the area has been a notorious encampment for years.

"This operation costs the city money, but you can imagine how much money it costs to compromise the businesses that are here, the fires that are started, the paramedics that have to come," Bass said.

"And this has to end, and we will continue to do this until street homelessness in Los Angeles has been ended."

The city and county partnered to clean up the encampment and ensure that everyone at the site receives the proper services and medical care.

Sanitation crews will work through the rest of the day to clean up once everyone has left.

"And you can see there is a lot of waste. Some of it is hazardous, some of it is biological, and they will be here doing the work," Bass said.

"Not only will the individuals be taken care of, but the neighbors that live near here, the businesses that are here will be able to function safely."

The latest reports provided by the City of Los Angeles show that 4,972 individuals voluntarily accepted to move into interim housing and were connected to services since the beginning of the Inside Safe program in December 2022.

Of those people who accepted temporary housing, 1,170 moved into permanent housing. The current housing retention rate of the program is estimated to be 58 percent.