CALIFORNIA SCHEMING
/Report from the battlefield:
A Third of LAFD's Service Calls Involve Homeless 'Rubbish Fires'
...fire calls involving homeless persons during that same period accounted for 32.91%, or nearly one-third, of all LAFD fire activity, the report states...
Rubbish Fires have seen a 475% increase from 5,541 to 31,964 between 2014 and 2024. “While not all of those have been documented as directly associated with PEH, many have,“ the report states.
Rubbish fires are now the most common call the LAFD gets and nearly half of them are associated with homeless people. The LAFD's budget is just over $800 million per year, so a large percentage of that spending is effectively spent dealing with fires started by homeless people. The figures are even more striking when you consider what a small percentage of the population in LA is homeless.
The report says that while homeless individuals make up just 1.2% of LA’s population, they are responsible for 12% of LAFD emergency medical services incidents and 33% of fires. This means compared to other people in Los Angeles, homeless people are 10 times more likely to use EMS services and 28 times more likely to be “involved” in a fire — all at taxpayers’ expense.
LA County is the largest county in the nation with about 10 million residents so even 1% is a lot of people. The head of the firefighters union says it's not sustainable.
"We don't want to criminalize homelessness, but we need additional resources strictly for homelessness," said Freddy Escobar, president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles. "We need more funding."...
"I don't know what the fix is, but I can tell you the members that I represent cannot sustain the call load of what we are doing for homelessness," Escobar said.
RELATED:
California enjoys the distinction of having 30% of the nation’s homeless living within its borders.
Changes over Time:
California had the largest absolute increase: in 2022, 8,948 more individuals experiencing chronic patterns of homelessness were counted than in 2020.
Of the 25 states that experienced increases in the number of individuals with chronic patterns of homelessness between 2007 and 2022, the largest absolute increase occurred in California, with 17,419 more individuals experiencing chronic patterns of homelessness in 2022 than in 2007.
But gee, they’re throwing so much money at the problem surely it must be doing some good? It is, for NGOs, politicians, and their friends. The homeless? Not so much.
Los Angeles is spending up to $837,000 to house a single homeless person
So, what’s the difficulty here? Simple: As long as homelessness is a lucrative source of grift, the problem will persist. And there’s a lot of grift being generated in the appropriately-named Golden State.
Maybe — maybe — things will change, but as we’re presently witnessing across the country, the grifters are dug in deeply, and won’t go easily.
APRIL 8 2025:
DOJ investigating SoCal homeless spending for fraud, hints at arrests
California’s new U.S. attorney announced Tuesday he is investigating billions of dollars of homeless spending for fraud and corruption, and promised to arrest individuals found to have violated federal law.
“California has spent more than $24 billion over the past five years to address homelessness,” said newly appointed U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. “But officials have been unable to account for all the expenditures and outcomes, and the homeless crisis has only gotten worse.”
“Taxpayers deserve answers for where and how their hard-earned money has been spent,” continued Essayli. “If state and local officials cannot provide proper oversight and accountability, we will do it for them. If we discover any federal laws were violated, we will make arrests.”
Essayli’s task force will include federal assistance from the FBI, the IRS, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Essayli’s announcement cited a court-ordered audit of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Agency that found the agency systematically paid out funds without verifying services had been provided, and that “insufficient financial accountability led to an inability to trace substantial funds.” Essayli was pictured with the judge who ordered the audit — U.S. District Judge David Carter — touring LA’s infamous Skid Row before the announcement.
Los Angeles County has since voted to defund LAHSA, in a move that was strongly opposed by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who downplayed the audit and is facing a recall effort for her wildfire response and what critics call her poor city management.