Del Rey homeless RV camp returns months after cleanup; residents frustrated

Cleared out homeless encampment returns to Del Rey

Months after a Del Rey RV encampment was cleared out, the RVs are back, and residents are frustrated.

LOS ANGELES - "It's almost like the famous words from the Poltergeist movie," said one Del Rey resident, "they are baaaaack". His sarcasm obvious as he points to a line of RVs parked along Inglewood Boulevard under the 90 Freeway. Most had left after we aired a story last February, featuring the plight of area residents complaining about rising crime and concerns about fires.

"It was great," said one resident, until they came back. It seems that around the same time that tents with people living on Dockweiler Beach were cleared, RVs near the beach were also asked to leave.

One person in an RV now in Del Rey explained he is letting some of the tent dwellers stay with him, in his RV, which he parked on Inglewood, because "it was a place he'd stayed at before".

People living in houses reached out to us, saying that problems, like fires, have started again. Sidewalks are blocked again and people are afraid. One RV resident told FOX 11 that she's also afraid. "I've been beaten and raped." said the woman holding on to a gray pit bull, explaining she'd love to find a permanent place to stay.

Homeless camps cleared at Dockweiler Beach

Crews cleared homeless camps along Dockweiler Beach in Playa del Rey, filling trucks with trash and more.

Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the area, has been vocal about the issues with RVs, and was loud in her push to clear Dockweiler, and coastal areas, of homeless encampments.

"We are looking at the Del Rey location again," said people in her office, acknowledging the difficulty of addressing homeless encampments, especially RVs. Even at Dockweiler, where an extensive cleanup cleared most of the beach last week, tents are already going back up. A follow-up cleanup is scheduled for Thursday morning at the beach, but the Del Rey situation may take longer.

"Something needs to change," said multiple residents complaining that encampments are cleared, only to return. The repetitive cycle can be seen all over Los Angeles, where, as much as city officials talk about the advances they are making in the efforts to get people into shelters and permanent dwellings, there clearly is a lot left to do, and a permanent solution seems evasive.

Residents living in homes around the encampments are tired and afraid. So are some of the people living in the encampments, who tell us they want to find permanent housing but still have a difficult time, especially with pets.

"It's sad. I get it," said a man living in one of the homes facing the encampment, but "it's not fair, not to them, but also not to us."