Discouraging news on Skid Row

Crime in the area has shot up ever since city officials prohibited any confiscation of a homeless person's property. "We're regressing," LAPD Capt. Horace Frank tells blogdowntown. "The environment allows it." The possessions, often carried in shopping carts, could include garbage and discards that a homeless person who is mentally ill will collect. From blogdowntown:

The injunction is a result of a case filed by eight homeless individuals who said the city took their belongings when they walked away for food, the bathroom or to appear in court. Their argument centers around Fourth and 14th Amendment claims that the pick-ups violate protections against unreasonable seizure and the deprivation of property without due process. The injunction is currently under review at the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals but Frank is doubtful that the ruling will be overturned. Molly Rysman, director of external affairs for the Skid Row Housing Trust, told blogdowntown last October that getting the injunction removed wouldn't solve the overarching issue of homelessness. "You may be able to break up the encampment, but these folks are still homeless," she said. "We need to look at how to really solve this."