{"id":347953,"date":"2025-11-01T12:25:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T12:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/347953\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T12:25:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T12:25:17","slug":"a-fence-might-deter-macarthur-park-crime-and-homelessness-but-is-it-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/347953\/","title":{"rendered":"A fence might deter MacArthur Park crime and homelessness, but is it enough?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My first reaction, when I heard about the proposed $2.3-million fence<\/a> around MacArthur Park, was skepticism.<\/p>\n

Yeah, the park and the immediate neighborhood have long dealt with a nasty web of urban nightmares, including homelessness, crime and a rather astonishing open-air drug scene<\/a>, all of which I spent a few months looking into not long ago.<\/p>\n

But what would a fence accomplish?<\/p>\n

Well, after looking into it, maybe it\u2019s not the worst idea.<\/p>\n

Skepticism, I should note, is generally a fallback position for me. It\u2019s something of an occupational duty, and how can you not be cynical about promises and plans in Los Angeles, where each time you open the newspaper, you have to scratch your head?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m still having trouble understanding how county supervisors approved another $828 million<\/a> in child sexual abuse payments, on top of an earlier settlement this year of $4 billion, even after Times reporter Rebecca Ellis found nine cases<\/a> in which people said they were told to fabricate abuse allegations.<\/p>\n

The same supes, while wrestling with a budget crisis, agreed to pay $2 million<\/a> to appease the county\u2019s chief executive officer because she felt wronged by a ballot measure proposing that the job be an elected rather than appointed post. Scratching your head doesn\u2019t help in this case; you\u2019re tempted instead to bang it into a wall.<\/p>\n

\"Drone <\/p>\n

Drone view of MacArthur Park looking toward downtown Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

(Ted Soqui\/For The Times)<\/p>\n

Or maybe a $2.3-million fence.<\/p>\n

The city of L.A. is primarily responsible for taking on the problems of MacArthur Park, although the county has a role too in the areas of housing, public health and addiction services. I made two visits to the area in the last week, and while there are signs of progress and slightly less of a sense of chaos \u2014 the children\u2019s playground hit last year by an arsonist has been fully rebuilt \u2014 there\u2019s a long way to go.<\/p>\n

In a story about the fence<\/a> by my colleague Nathan Solis, one service provider said it would further criminalize homelessness and another said the money \u201ccould be better used by funding … services to the people in the park, rather than just moving them out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vast majority of people who spoke at the Oct. 16 meeting<\/a> of the Recreation and Parks Commission, which voted unanimously to move forward with the fence, were adamantly opposed despite claims that enclosing the space would be a step toward upgrading and making the park more welcoming.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing is more unwelcoming than a fence around a public space,\u201d one critic said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA fence can not solve homelessness,\u201d another said.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The LAPD underwater dive unit investigates activity in MacArthur Park Lake.<\/p>\n

(Genaro Molina\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Others argued that locking up the park, which is surrounded by a predominantly immigrant community, recalls the ridiculous stunt <\/a>that played out in June, when President Trump\u2019s uniformed posse showed up in armored vehicles and on horseback in what looked like an all-out invasion of Westlake.<\/p>\n

But another speaker, Raul Claros<\/a> \u2014 who is running against Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez<\/a> in the 1st District \u2014 said he\u2019d spoken to residents and merchants who support the fence, as long as it\u2019s part of a greater effort to address the community\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n

Claros said he has three questions: \u201cWhat\u2019s the plan? What\u2019s the timeline? Who\u2019s in charge?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hernandez, by the way, is not opposed to the fence. A staffer told me there\u2019s a fence around nearby Lafayette Park. Other fenced parks in Los Angeles include Robert Burns Park, adjacent to Hancock Park, and the L.A. State Historic Park on the edge of Chinatown, which is locked at sunset.<\/p>\n

As for the long-range plan, the Hernandez staffer said the councilwoman has secured and is investing millions of dollars<\/a> in what she calls a care-first approach that aims to address drug addiction <\/a>and homelessness in and around the park.<\/p>\n

Eduardo Aguirre<\/a>, who lives a couple of blocks from the park and serves on the West Pico Neighborhood Council, told me he\u2019s OK with the fence but worried about the possible consequences. If the people who use the park at night or sleep there are forced out, he said, where will they go?<\/p>\n

\u201cTo the streets? To the alleys? You know what\u2019s going to happen. It\u2019s a game,\u201d Aguirre said.<\/p>\n

Last fall I walked with Aguirre and his wife as they led their daughter<\/a> to her elementary school. They often have to step around homeless people and past areas where dealing and drug use, along with violence, are anything but infrequent.<\/p>\n

Families and others should be able to feel safe in the park and the neighborhood, said Norm Langer,<\/a> owner of the iconic Langer\u2019s deli on the edge of the park.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A visitor takes in the view at MacArthur Park.<\/p>\n

(Genaro Molina\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cI completely understand why you\u2019re skeptical,\u201d Langer told me, but he said he\u2019s seen improvements in the last year, particularly after fences were installed<\/a> along Alvarado Street and vendors were shut down. Police say some of the vendors were involved in the drug trade and the resale of stolen merchandise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe point isn\u2019t to limit access,\u201d Langer said. \u201cThe fence is intended to improve safety and quality of life for the people who live, work, and spend time here. It gives park staff a fighting chance to maintain and restore the place, especially at night, when they can finally clean and repair without the constant chaos that made upkeep nearly impossible before.\u201d<\/p>\n

LAPD Capt. Ben Fernandes of the Rampart division told me police are \u201ctrying to make it not OK\u201d to buy and use drugs along the Alvarado corridor. Drug users often gather in the northeast corner of the park, Fernandes said, and he thinks putting up a fence and keeping the park off limits at night will help \u201cdeflect\u201d some of \u201cthe open-air usage.\u201d<\/p>\n

The park has a nice soccer field and a lovely bandstand, among other popular attractions, but many parents told me they\u2019re reluctant to visit with their children because of safety concerns. If a fence helps bring back families, many of whom live in apartments and have no yards, that\u2019s a good thing.<\/p>\n

But as the city goes to work on design issues, questions about enforcement, opening and closing times and other details, it needs to keep in mind that all of that is the easy part.<\/p>\n

It took an unforgivably long time for L.A. Mayor Karen Bass<\/a> and other elected officials to acknowledge a social, economic and humanitarian crisis in a place that\u2019s home to thousands of low-income working people.<\/p>\n

The neighborhood needs much more than a fence.<\/p>\n

steve.lopez@latimes.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"My first reaction, when I heard about the proposed $2.3-million fence around MacArthur Park, was skepticism. Yeah, the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":347954,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[7910,1582,276,125690,170726,33875,7265,170727,170728,2961,224,2444,5337,170725,6475,6291,6141,3546,18416,6620],"class_list":{"0":"post-347953","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-area","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-county-supervisor","12":"tag-eduardo-aguirre","13":"tag-fence","14":"tag-homelessness","15":"tag-iconic-langer","16":"tag-immediate-neighborhood","17":"tag-la","18":"tag-los-angeles","19":"tag-los-angeles-times","20":"tag-losangeles","21":"tag-macarthur-park-crime","22":"tag-night","23":"tag-other","24":"tag-park","25":"tag-people","26":"tag-plan","27":"tag-time"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115474433969200906","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}