Many Venice, California residents see their street homeless and think "degenerates." These folks low on the compassion totem pole have taken their disdain a step further, going on for weeks with a letter writing campaign to ask the Mayor and Los Angeles Police Department to get rid of the Venetian "bums." And that's the kindest thing they've been called; other labels include "criminals," "crazy," "addicts" and "black guys." Very nice.

The LAPD's presence seems to have disappeared in Venice and, thus, crime has increased. Some residents have shared stories of people sleeping in their driveways, breaking into their homes, threatening their lives and the lives of their young children. These are very scary and serious issues, but the residents of Venice need to take deep breaths and think for a minute before they blame the homeless for their problems. A homeless presence does not mean danger.

Photo credit: Mark Coggin