On August 10th, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to pass a motion to prohibit homeless encampments in unincorporated regions of the County that are designated as Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones in an effort to prevent fires and potential loss of life and property.
“A growing number of unsheltered individuals are residing in remote, mountainous regions that are especially dangerous during fire season,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger who co-authored the motion with Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. “Many unsheltered people require fire for survival to cook and keep warm. Unfortunately, this drastically increases the risk of nearby brush catching fire and spreading rapidly. Today’s motion is an important effort to protect people experiencing homelessness from fire risk and prevent any fire spreading in our communities.” Supervisor Katherine Barger’s announcement of the passing of the motion included the “Sheriff’s Department Homeless Outreach Services Team will provide notification to impacted individuals”.
While the passing of this motion may be instrumental to greatly reduce fire risk in the Santa Monica Mountains, the Board of Supervisors, who is currently sitting on a surplus of over 2 billion dollars, has not announced the release of additional funding to the Sheriff’s Department for the added manpower needed to enforce the new ordinance.
The motion was meant to piggyback off of CalFire’s original designation of High Fire Severity Zones and the recent efforts of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department’s successful clearing of encampments throughout L.A. County.
The LASD Homeless Outreach Team has increased their efforts significantly since May at the direction of Sheriff Villanueva to combat the catastrophic conditions and eliminate dangerous encampments which have contributed to a significant public safety risk throughout LA County.
Currently, the LASD HOST Team is funded for onlyfour deputies, one Sargent and one Lieutenant to assist the entire homeless population of L.A. County.
Shortly before Sheriff Alex Villanueva began his high-profile clean-up in Venice, he increased the team to 26 deputies, 2 sergeants and two lieutenants, in order to effectively service and address the complexeties of homeless outreach in L.A. County. The additional personnel is on loan from other teams within the COPS Bureau (Community Partnerships).
In July, the City of Malibu, a contract city with LASD, increased patrol levels in their contract for the first time in over 15 years. The coverage however, due to the Board’s drastic defunding of over $400 million from LASD’s annual budget last year, left the unincorporated areas of L.A. County – specifically the canyons in the Santa Monica mountains – extremely vulnerable.
The increased patrol levels within city limits will give the deputies the ability to cite, and/or potentially arrest, however, additional manpower is needed to enforce areas where encampments were previously established and cleared and to prevent them from re-establishing. Many of the encampments are in outlying areas not covered by patrols in contract cities.
Despite the HOST Team’s efforts in Topanga since the beginning of the year, there was still a significant uptick in vagrant fires during the first six months of 2021 causing serious concerns. It was clear additional manpower and a more aggressive approach was critical to make headway before Santa Ana winds arrived.
Topanga Canyon earlier this year.
On August 5th, a roundtable was coordinated by local activists to connect the local players in public safety. Members of LA County Fire, LASD HOST team, City officials from Malibu and Calabasas, county officials (including theL.A. County Housing Authority) and members of the community proactive in Public Safety met at Calabasas City Hall. The meeting led to expedited communication between agencies not before seen at this level in our region.
Previous interaction between LASD HOST team and local city officials was extremely limited due to a multitude of reasons, however, since the August 5th meeting, LASD HOST communication has not only improved dramatically with respect to strategy and planning for clean-ups, it has also been the catalyst inspiring collaborations between local officials, agencies and activists in the area that previously did not exist. An important factor in navigating this extremely challenging issue plaguing L.A. County for years.
Assistant Chief Drew Smith and Lt Geff Deedrick of LASD HOST Team at the August 5th meeting at Calabasas City Hall.
Council members from Malibu and Calabasas as well as county officials met on August 5th at Calabasas City Hall to discuss expediting clearing of homeless encampments before Santa Ana wind season.
Members of LASD HOST, Lost Hills deputies and city officials met up at Topanga to tour encampments and perform outreach shortly after the August 5th meeting.
The LASD Homeless Outreach team recently completed an extensive three-month clearing of encampments starting in Topanga, working their way throughout the canyon areas in the Santa Monica Mountains and ending at the heavily populated Malibu Lagoon area on November 9th, the third anniversary of the Woolsey Fire.
After a designated area is given approval by the county for clearance of encampments, there is a 30 day window where enforcement is critical to ensure the encampments do not re-establish. After that window has closed, the legal process starts all over again. During Santa Ana wind season, this protocol could prove to be catastrophic if additional patrols are not deployed to provide enforcement especially during critical weather events.
The county has yet to complete the legal language for the new ordinance that would allow encampments to be cleared within 24 hours rather than the lengthy and extensive current protocol, sometimes taking weeks to clear a pre-approved area.
LASD HOST Team and members of LAHSA performing outreach efforts at the Zuma Lagoon on November 9th, 2021.
On October 28th, shortly before Santa Ana wind season began and just days before the Woolsey Fire Anniversary, Lt. Jim Braden of the Lost Hills Station requested approval from Kuehl’s office for additional Red Flag Funding needed to enforce the encampment ban in county areas during critical weather events.
The station is tasked with servicing the majority of roughly 300 square miles in the Santa Monica Mountains high density brush area, a good portion of which hasn’t been burned in over 60 years and with decreased personnel due to law enforcement defunding affecting county area, Lt. Braden asked Kuehl’s office to increase funding an additional $200,000 on top of the $68,000 they currently receive.
“Public safety is a continuous process and round-the-clock enforcement is a critical component to ensure the canyons are free of encampments especially during Santa Ana Winds.” said Lt. Braden.
Malibu City Council members Bruce Silverstein and Steve Uhring have been proactive in the fight to clear encampments in our region meeting with Sheriff Villanueva at the Hall of Justice a few months ago to discuss a vigorous homeless outreach strategy before the height of fire season.
Additionally, I reached out to Malibu City Council members Karen Farrer, Mikke Pierson and Paul Grisanti to ask them about their efforts to secure more funding after the Lost Hills Station was denied by Kuehl’s office. At press time, I did not receive a response.
Without additional personnel at the station level to patrol high risk areas, as well as permanent funding to support to expand the LASD Homeless Outreach Team, both of which are already underfunded and overburdened, it seems the county, specifically Kuehl’s office who authored the August 10th motion, do not comprehend that Santa Ana Winds do not wait for “needs assessments” to wreak havoc in our region.
And with that, the LA. County Board of Supervisors recent motion to improve public safety in high fire danger areas will ultimately become nothing more than a cautionary tale this fire season.
The efforts of the Los Angeles Sheriffís Department Homeless Outreach Team incollaboration with the Lost Hills Station, Malibu City officials, county officialsand local activists has made a significant impact in our communityas we enter Santa Ana wind season and the third anniversary of the Woolsey Fire.
As the community braces for that fateful day the fire ravaged the area in 2018, residents can rest a little easier knowing LASD’s efforts to clear homeless encampments in high fire danger areas around Malibu picked up steam recently with the final clean-up in the area scheduled to be completed on the day of the anniversary, Tuesday, November 9th.
Earlier this month, the collaborative effortsbetween the County, LASD, city officials andhomeless advocates at the Malibu Connectevent hosted by Supervisor Sheila Kuehl’s office, included vendors offering medical services,housing resources with the assistance ofsponsors The Saint Joseph’s Center,People’s Concern and Malibu CART.
The head of LASD HOST Team Lt. GeoffDeedrick and members of the North Division,Deputies Shai Sheklow and Sean Priestly,guided many of Malibu’s local homelesspopulation to legal assistance, vaccines (evena barber!) and more available at the event.
From left: Deputy Shai Sheklow, Deputy Sean Priestly, Captain Chuck Becerra, Joe the Barber cutting the hair of one of the attendees of Malibu Connect event, LAHSA representative Dan Ornelas, Lt Geoff Deedrick, Head of the LASD Homeless Task Force.
On June 7th, shortly after the Palisades Fire and to the surprise of county officials (specifically first responders) given the on-going drought and catastrophic conditions in wildfire zones patrolled by LASD, Sheriff Alex Villanueva launched his Homeless Outreach efforts at the Venice Boardwalk.
According to my sources, County fire officals were preplexed at the Sheriff’s strategy to prioritize the Venice Boardwalk given the critical conditions and increased fire danger in the Santa Mountains. One official expressed his concern stating “Sand doesn’t burn”.
Shortly after the Sheriff launched LASD’s Venice homeless outreach efforts, City officials from contract cities serviced by the LASD, especially those in critical high fire dangerareas already experiencing a dramatic rise in encampment fires, immediately went into panic mode.
The possibility of transients relocating from Venice into the extremely dense, dry hillsides above Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Topanga, Calabasas and Agoura was imminent and it was critical to get a strategy in place before Santa Ana Wind Season arrived. Malibu City council member Bruce Silverstein reached out to Lost Hills Station Captain Chuck Becerra inquiring about the station’s preparation in case an influx of transients migrated to the Santa Monica mountains after being forced out of Venice – especially under the threat of incarceration.
“Much is being said about the potential of yet even more transients migrating to the beaches and community of Malibu. Let me assure the community that this station is ready and prepared to deal with the influx of humanity.” Captain Becerra told The Current Report. “The population in Malibu soars during the summer months to levels that test our limits. A byproduct of this summer phenomena is that this station has been in the practice of bolstering is summer deployment to meet these demands. We will be increasingour staffing levels to meet thenew challenges. Your stationshepherded this communitythrough a historic pandemicand this new challenge is nodifferent. Do not fear what“may” be. We are ready.”
Scenes from the Palisades Fire (right) which burned approximately 1,325 acres through unseasonably dry vegetation that had not been burned in a significant fire for close to 50 to 60 years and caused the evacuation of approximately 1000 residents.
While the community has the highest level of confidence in the station since it became under the command of Becerra last year (which has also been scandal free since Sheriff Villanueva appointed him during the pandemic) you cannot always “see” what “may” be.
Multiple transient related fires per month –even weekly at times–occured in our Santa Monica Mountains right up until and throughout Sheriff Villanueva’s high-profile Venice Homeless sweep.
The Boardwalk clean-up sent an estimated 250 people searching for a new coastal location with the added threat by Sheriff Villanueva to arrest those who do not comply, made rural coastal areas more attractive to the unhoused as they have the ability to going virtually undetected.
Additionally, a drastically underfunded law enforcement, the hardest hit being county areas due to the Board of Supervisors defunding LASD in excess of $400 million, leaves the unincorporated areas of L.A. County – specificaly the canyons in the Santa Monica mountains, extremely vulnerable.
At press time, Lt. Jim Braden informed me that the station is seeking additional funds to enforce and prevent encampments from establishing and potential crimes committed in the in the county areas that are in desperate need of additional patrols during high-fire danger season.
At the beginning of July, the City of Malibu increased patrol levels in their contract with the Sheriff’s Department for the first time in over 15 years. The increase, largely due to local activism educating the community, in turn put pressure on city council to renegotiate their contract with the department to meet the growing needs of residents – which includes patrols designated solely for the homeless.
The increased patrol levels within the city limits will give the deputies the ability to cite, and/or potentially arrest, however, the real issue will be the Los Angeles County District’s Attorney whose pro-criminal directives are allowing virtually no consequences for breaking the law.
Council members Steve Uhring and Bruce Silverstein visited the Sheriff shortly after the high-profile Venice clean-up began. The meeting took place at the Hall of Justice along with members of the LASD HOST team to discuss efforts to clear the encampments in our wildfire zones that border the five cities patrolled by the Lost Hills Station.
The council members expressed fear to the Sheriff and the HOST Team at the meeting, that an influx of the Venice homeless population would relocate to our canyons.Additionally, Silverstein shared his progressive plan to tackle the homeless issue in our area with the Sheriff and the HOST Team.
WOOLSEY WOES
The community, already suffering from PTSD due to the devastating Woolsey Fire in 2018 that destroyed thousands of acres and over 600 homes, was experiencing a heightened level of PTSD up until July of this year, with weekly fires occurring in dense brush areas due to encampments.
A home burning in Latigo Canyon during the Woolsey Fire, November 9th, 2018.
The Woolsey Fire burning on Zuma Ridge, November 9th, 2018.
The catastrophic conditions in our region led to Malibu City Council pushing forward with their efforts to tackle the homeless issue at the July 21st council meeting.
“…We updated the city’s nuisance ordinance. If a nuisance is identified the city manager can make the call to have it removed and charge the cost of the removal to the property owner. Needs to come back for a second reading but it is a step in the right direction… We also appointed a ten person homeless task force. Their charter is to take a clean look at everything, especially trying to find a location outside of Malibu where we can shelter the homeless.”
I spoke with council member Uhring the day after the meeting who echoed the sentiments of concerned city officials and community members about the urgent need to clear encampments before Santa Ana wind season:
“I have not seen evidence that SheriffVillanueva’s program to clear homelessencampments has begun, but when it does,I will join with other Malibu residents tothank him for his efforts toprotect the community.”
A few days later on July 24th, Malibu City Council Member Bruce Silverstein posted the following announcement on social media:
“Malibu’s Formal Designation as a “Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone” by CalFire Provides a Legal Basis for Strict Enforcement of Malibu’s No Camping Ordinance.
As shown by the… map published by CalFire, the entirety of the City of Malibu has designated a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. There are only a handful of cities in California that share this distinction. And few, if any, other cities in California have been ravaged by wildfire as often as Malibu”.
“In the past year, there have been numerous fires in Malibu caused by transient vagrants living on public land (and trespassing on private property) in Malibu. Any one of those fires could grown into a devastating wildfire if the winds had been blowing.” Silverstein continued.
TICK TOCK
As the days and weeks inched closer to Santa Ana Wind season and with what seemed like very little movement to start the clearing process in the Santa Monica Mountains, I contacted LASD Commander John Burcher about my concerns. Burcher immediately initiated communication between myself (as an activist in my community, which is separate from my role as a journalist) and the head of LASD HOST team Lt. Geoff Deedrick, to help me gain some insight on their strategy with a particularly treacherous time of year fast approaching. Additionally, Commander Burcher assured me the HOST team had been working in the area since January.
Despite the HOST Team’s efforts in Topanga since the beginning of the year, there was still a significant uptick in vagrant fires during the first six months of 2021 causing serious concerns. It was clear additional manpower and a more aggressive approach was critical to make headway before Santa Ana winds arrived.
I met with Lt. Deedrick on July 29th in Venice and toured the area. Deedrick educated me on the HOST Teams mission, policies and procedures (in general) and with the poltically-charged, high-profile clean-up at the Boardwalk.
Upon learning the complexities surrounding the Venice efforts – and even more so in our rural area – it was clear a roundtable needed to be scheduled to connect all the local players in public safety.
On August 5th, members of LA County Fire, LASD HOST team, City officials from Malibu and Calabasas, county officials (including theL.A. County Housing Authority) and members of the community proactive in Public Safety met at Calabasas City Hall.
ABOVE LEFT: Lt. Geoff Deedrick speaking, LACOFD’s Drew Smith at the August 5th meeting attended by Malibu and Calabasas city officials, L.A. County officials and city leaders to address the strategic planning to eliminate encampments in our region.
THE FRUITS OF LABOR
The August 5th meeting proved fruitful in many ways.
It led to expedited communication between agencies not before seen at this level in our region since the “Make our Mountains Safe Again” meeting hosted by Senator Henry Stern during the the Malibu Creek State Park Shootings in the summer of 2018.
Previous interaction between LASD HOST team and local city officials was extremely limited due to a multitude of reasons, however, since the August 5th meeting, LASD HOST communication has not only improved dramatically with respect to strategy and planning for clean-ups, it has also been the catalyst inspiring collaborations between local officials, agencies and activists in the area that previously did not exist. An important factor in navigating this extremely challenging issue plaguing L.A. County for years.
ABOVE: Members of the LASD HOST team, Lost Hills Station deputies, Malibu City officials and LAHSA met in Topanga shortly after the August 5th meeting to assess encampments in the area.
HOST’s presence in the area also inspired a swift clean-up by State Parks working with the City of Malibu to clean up encampments in the civic center area that has been plagues by encampment fires. The HOST Team performed outreach at the Lagoon on July 7th.
At the end of August, I was notified of the clean-up and contacted Captain Darell Readyhoff, Superindent at State Parks, “The debris cleanup under the SR1 bridge at the Malibu Lagoon State Beach on August 26th was a joint effort between State Park Peace Officers and State Park Maintenance employees. Additionally, the City of Malibu was instrumental in connecting us with the shopping center management who allowed us to place a 40 yard dumpster on their property for the morning. We completed the work by noon”.
Top photo: LASD HOST posting their visit to the Malibu Lagoon July 7th. Second and third photo: A successful clean-up by State Parks in collaboration with the City of Malibu and stakeholders.
PROTOCOL, PROCEDURE & PROGRESS
On September 2nd, almost three months after his homeless clean-up efforts in Venice began, Sheriff Villanueva hosted a town hall at Duke’s Malibu to address the community’s concern re: homeless encampments, crime and wildfires.
Sheriff Villanueva at Duke’s Malibu, September 2nd, 2021.
Villanueva, no stranger to wildfire issues in our area, has been very proactive in our coastal community when it comes to emergency preparedness, which is why prioritizing the Venice sweep caught many in LASD patrolled contract cities, by surprise.
In November 2018, the Woolsey Fire burned 97,000-acres, destroying more than 1,500 structures and responsible for three deaths, then Sheriff-elect Villanueva, took the initiative and made the trip from his La Habra Heights home to the Zuma Beach command post to talk to the troops.
Sheriff-elect Alex Villanueva at the Zuma Beach Command Post after the Woolsey Fire. Photo: The Local Malibu
A few weeks later and only days after his swearing in, Villanueva’s first town hall as Sheriff of L.A. County was in Malibu to address Woolsey Fire victims and their concerns. The Sheriff also came for a second town hall a few months later, in May of 2019, to discuss the emergency procedures and preparedness for upcoming fire season.
In October 2019, Sheriff Villanueva, after being made aware of the failures to post emergency updates during not one, but two significant fires occurring in the first wildfire season after the Woolsey Fire, the Sheriff ordered an overhaul of communication at the station – specifically social media and how the station distributes emergency communication. The result has been a robust social media presencetagging local media to ensure public safety alerts have wide distribution.
At the August 5th meeting organized by myself and Lt. Deedrick addressing homeless encampments and wildfire dangers, Deedrick estimated 90 days to clear out most, if not all, homeless encampments in the Santa Monica Mountains, just intime for Santa Ana wind season.
“It seems a little ambitious” I toldKTLA News covering the meeting,“but they have a pretty solid teamand I’m going to be hopeful”.
At the August 5th meeting with Lt. Geoff Deedrick. The meeting was covered by KTLA News.
On Monday, October 25th, theLASD HOST Team made their finalposting notifying of the impendingclean-up of the encampments inthe Zuma lagoon area. What began as approximately18 encampments, is now down to four after the HOST Team performed outreach efforts.
The final clean-up is scheduled for November 9th, ironically the third anniversary of the Woolsey Fire, effectively meeting the 90 day deadline set at the August 5th meeting.
As skeptical as I was that they would meet their deadline, it looks like I met my match.
As the LASD HOST Team makes big moves around LA County superhero-style, we can rest easy knowing they not only successfully completed their mission to clear our canyons… they literally moved mountains to keep our community safe.
Follow LASD HOST Team as they clean-up LA COUNTY. Twitter: @lasdhost
