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I live in Seattle but I'm currently in LA. Here in Santa Monica its out of control. I just went to Starbucks and a homeless person was harassing everyone in the

I live in Seattle but I'm currently in LA. Here in Santa Monica its out of control. I just went to Starbucks and a homeless person was harassing everyone in the line, very threatening -- and the security won't do anything about it. We can't do anything about it or we'd be the one cracked down on. I was in another coffee shop and a homeless was behind my chair with a lighter trying to light my hair on fire. My wife was harassed in the same coffee shop two days later. I can't see how this isn't impacting tourism. Even when I went to Hawaii, Waikiki was filled with homeless taking over all the public benches.

Bootwizard 7y ago
Wow. That sounds like a nightmare. I don't personally have a solution to this problem but I think treating it like it isn't one is not the solution. What's it like in Seattle? Same issues?
steelframe 7y ago
At least they aren't trying to straight-up murder you while you're passing by on the sidewalk. https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/man-arrested-for-trying-to-throw-woman-off-seattle-overpass/931766654 https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/man-arrested-for-trying-to-... Oops, I meant, straight-up "attempted assault" you.
- dmix 7y ago
  > Wilson, who prosecutors say suffers from mental illness, had already been arrested three times since September 2018 for assaulting total strangers, all of those cases were handled by Seattle Municipal Court. > The Seattle Municipal Court judge made the decision to dismiss all of the assault charges stemming from these recent arrests. I have so many questions
  - 14 7y ago
    I suspect it has to do with Mens Rea
- tluyben2 7y ago
  Why are these people not put in mental institutions (they would be here) instead of possibly jail? That is where they belong: jail and other punishment is not going to help anyone long term.
  - erichocean 7y ago
    Because it's illegal in the USA, thanks to various court rulings in (IIRC) the 1970s.
    - tluyben2 7y ago
      Strange you can lock people up in prisons but not give them help they need... I understand why it would be illegal but jails are far worse for people with mental illness and it won’t work as a deterrent for them either; they come out worse than going in if they survive. So that should be forbidden too then.
    - dvdbloc 7y ago
      Is there any effort/motivation to change this? Not saying we should or shouldn't, just wondering.
MrAlex94 7y ago
I'll happily give my views as a tourist. I've just come back from a CA road-trip and the homelessness I saw was absolutely devastating. For some background, I'm from London. We have homeless here, but it's different. I've very very rarely ever seen someone who is homeless here that also has any immediately obvious mental health issues (of course, just my experience). I try to interact with them as much as I can, I live in central and I can't fathom how dehumanising of an experience it must be being ignored by thousands of people a day. So a quick chat and an offer to buy food and that's about it. All in all they are usually pleasant people and quite polite. Now London is also different in the states in that - at least in my peer group (16-25) - almost no-one carries cash. At all. Chip & Pin and contactless all the way. But the states was something else. The first city I was in was San Fransisco. I had so many expectations of this city, but the sheer scale of homelessness and the sheer amount of people who didn't care because it wasn't their problem was absolutely mind bending. Something that is seared into my memories is that of a young man who must've been around my age who in the most polite way and with the most destroyed look on his face asked if I could "possibly spare any change." Just the tone he said it with and the look on his face genuinely gave me tears in my eyes as I walked with my girlfriend. I could only say I was sorry that I didn't carry cash on me, but he didn't even wait for a response as I assume he almost always gets ignored. We saw homeless tents all along the street our hotel was on (Eddy Street) and they were literally shooting up heroin, in view of everyone, a couple of steps away from the entrance. Almost every other city we went to was the same. LA though was next level. I can't remember the exact areas but it was near union station/the jewellery district - but my goodness we literally walked down a different street and the difference was night and day. Needles on the floor, a geezer walking past throwing a bloody tube on the street, so many boarded up shops with signs that looked maybe a few years old. Absolutely insane! It was even more surreal seeing "luxury flats" overlooking those streets, it felt like some kind of jest. The last time I'd seen poverty (not just homelessness, poverty) like that was when I was growing up in Tangiers. Honestly I feel so much for the homeless over there because I have no idea how you're supposed to get out of it. At least here we have some safety nets with social housing and benefits (although there are definite cracks where people slip through). I really hope things get better somehow - it was painful seeing how little passers by seemed to care (I assume they are desensitised and have struggles of their own). We spoke to so many Uber drivers about it and they would just blame the homeless - "It's all their own fault. They can get help if they want to."
Balgair 7y ago
The one on SM Blvd & Bundy? I lived in SM City for a few years and I'll echo this poster. The bums were pretty bad, last time I went back, they had gotten worse somehow. Maybe it's that the traffic has gotten worse too and that bleeds into the bums as well. Though there are MANY good reasons that the homeless population is the way that it is, the fact remains that the bums on the street are horrific for everyone. It is very very hard to find compassion for the homeless after you get doused in pee, again, by the lunatics. For real.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
readme 7y ago
I've had run ins with people like this. What worked for me in the past, was speaking sternly to them. Once a place I worked, a homeless guy was running towards the building with a chair, ready to smash the window with it. I stopped him, just by yelling "no, stop" and then when he asked if I wanted to fight him, I just said "no, but I'm going to call the police if you don't leave." he left. The key is to establish dominance: you are telling them to stop, not asking.

Bootwizard 7y ago

Wow. That sounds like a nightmare. I don't personally have a solution to this problem but I think treating it like it isn't one is not the solution. What's it like in Seattle? Same issues?

steelframe 7y ago

At least they aren't trying to straight-up murder you while you're passing by on the sidewalk. https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/man-arrested-for-trying-to-throw-woman-off-seattle-overpass/931766654 https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/man-arrested-for-trying-to-... Oops, I meant, straight-up "attempted assault" you.

dmix 7y ago
> Wilson, who prosecutors say suffers from mental illness, had already been arrested three times since September 2018 for assaulting total strangers, all of those cases were handled by Seattle Municipal Court. > The Seattle Municipal Court judge made the decision to dismiss all of the assault charges stemming from these recent arrests. I have so many questions
- 14 7y ago
  I suspect it has to do with Mens Rea
tluyben2 7y ago
Why are these people not put in mental institutions (they would be here) instead of possibly jail? That is where they belong: jail and other punishment is not going to help anyone long term.
- erichocean 7y ago
  Because it's illegal in the USA, thanks to various court rulings in (IIRC) the 1970s.
  - tluyben2 7y ago
    Strange you can lock people up in prisons but not give them help they need... I understand why it would be illegal but jails are far worse for people with mental illness and it won’t work as a deterrent for them either; they come out worse than going in if they survive. So that should be forbidden too then.
  - dvdbloc 7y ago
    Is there any effort/motivation to change this? Not saying we should or shouldn't, just wondering.

MrAlex94 7y ago

I'll happily give my views as a tourist. I've just come back from a CA road-trip and the homelessness I saw was absolutely devastating. For some background, I'm from London. We have homeless here, but it's different. I've very very rarely ever seen someone who is homeless here that also has any immediately obvious mental health issues (of course, just my experience). I try to interact with them as much as I can, I live in central and I can't fathom how dehumanising of an experience it must be being ignored by thousands of people a day. So a quick chat and an offer to buy food and that's about it. All in all they are usually pleasant people and quite polite. Now London is also different in the states in that - at least in my peer group (16-25) - almost no-one carries cash. At all. Chip & Pin and contactless all the way. But the states was something else. The first city I was in was San Fransisco. I had so many expectations of this city, but the sheer scale of homelessness and the sheer amount of people who didn't care because it wasn't their problem was absolutely mind bending. Something that is seared into my memories is that of a young man who must've been around my age who in the most polite way and with the most destroyed look on his face asked if I could "possibly spare any change." Just the tone he said it with and the look on his face genuinely gave me tears in my eyes as I walked with my girlfriend. I could only say I was sorry that I didn't carry cash on me, but he didn't even wait for a response as I assume he almost always gets ignored. We saw homeless tents all along the street our hotel was on (Eddy Street) and they were literally shooting up heroin, in view of everyone, a couple of steps away from the entrance. Almost every other city we went to was the same. LA though was next level. I can't remember the exact areas but it was near union station/the jewellery district - but my goodness we literally walked down a different street and the difference was night and day. Needles on the floor, a geezer walking past throwing a bloody tube on the street, so many boarded up shops with signs that looked maybe a few years old. Absolutely insane! It was even more surreal seeing "luxury flats" overlooking those streets, it felt like some kind of jest. The last time I'd seen poverty (not just homelessness, poverty) like that was when I was growing up in Tangiers. Honestly I feel so much for the homeless over there because I have no idea how you're supposed to get out of it. At least here we have some safety nets with social housing and benefits (although there are definite cracks where people slip through). I really hope things get better somehow - it was painful seeing how little passers by seemed to care (I assume they are desensitised and have struggles of their own). We spoke to so many Uber drivers about it and they would just blame the homeless - "It's all their own fault. They can get help if they want to."

Balgair 7y ago

The one on SM Blvd & Bundy? I lived in SM City for a few years and I'll echo this poster. The bums were pretty bad, last time I went back, they had gotten worse somehow. Maybe it's that the traffic has gotten worse too and that bleeds into the bums as well. Though there are MANY good reasons that the homeless population is the way that it is, the fact remains that the bums on the street are horrific for everyone. It is very very hard to find compassion for the homeless after you get doused in pee, again, by the lunatics. For real.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

readme 7y ago

I've had run ins with people like this. What worked for me in the past, was speaking sternly to them. Once a place I worked, a homeless guy was running towards the building with a chair, ready to smash the window with it. I stopped him, just by yelling "no, stop" and then when he asked if I wanted to fight him, I just said "no, but I'm going to call the police if you don't leave." he left. The key is to establish dominance: you are telling them to stop, not asking.