CalMatters challenges LA homeless authority’s argument that shelter complaint reports are exempt from public disclosure.
Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority workers observe L.A. city sanitation workers removing an encampment during a “CARE+” sweep on Venice Boulevard in Venice Beach in June 2023. Photo by Brian Feinzimer, LAistAfter reports of shelter deaths and assaults, officials grappling with the state’s biggest homeless crisis have denied repeated requests for incident reports created by government contractors.
For eight months, CalMatters has sought to obtain the incident reports, which track major events at publicly funded shelters. Contractors hired to operate the facilities are supposed to use the reports to quickly document serious issues including deaths, contagious disease, suspected abuse and overdoses, according to
To justify its claim, the agency cited a 1995 court ruling in City of Hemet v. Superior Court. The court ruled that police records could be kept secret to protect the privacy of police officers. LAHSA does not employ any police officers. The new CalMatters lawsuit comes amid a bigger reckoning over homelessness in the nation’s most populous state. California has spent more than $24 billion to address the issue over the past five years, a state audit found, only toto monitor them. Whether cities can move more people into shelters is an increasingly urgent question, after the U.S. Supreme Court
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