20 / <strong>The</strong> <strong>Pavement</strong>, May 2011ing over me, stabbing at me.“He was shouting: ‘I told you togo, if you stay here you will die’.“I was really frightened he wasgoing to kill me. I yelled for help.”Rebecca EvansLA encampment cleared<strong>The</strong> clearing of a homeless ‘encampment’in Los Angeles two weeks agoonce again illustrates the scale ofthe homelessness problem in theUnited States. Since October of lastyear, the Los Angeles city authoritieshave been clearing areas wherelarge numbers of rough sleepers hadbegun to congregate. Twenty peoplewere removed from a camp underneatha motorway bridge in lastDecember after the local authoritiessaid their living conditions hadbecome a health and safety concern.In 2009, the last time the USGovernment’s Annual HomelessAssessment Report was published,the number of rough sleepers wasestimated to be around 700,000on any given night. Among thatfigure were 124,000 peopledescribed as “chronic homeless”.Another striking statistic wasthat one fifth of all rough sleepers inthe United States in 2008 could befound in Los Angeles, New York andDetroit. <strong>The</strong> scale of the encampmentsin Los Angeles gives someidea of the number of rough sleepersin that city, the largest by populationin the US. A December report in theLos Angeles Times said there werearound 48,000 homeless people inthe city. By comparison, the UK’sDepartment for Communities andLocal Government estimated thatthere were 1,247 rough sleepersin the whole of Britain in 2010.Although there is considerabledisagreement on who is andis not considered ‘homeless’, andestimates vary from organisationto organisation, it is clear that asignificantly higher proportion ofAmericans are sleeping rough thanhere in the UK. <strong>The</strong> problem in theUS has been made worse sincethe financial crisis, with a rise inunemployment and a lot of peopleunable to afford their mortgagerepayments. In the first six monthsof last year, for example, 1.9 millionhomes in the US were put up forsale because their occupants couldno longer afford their repayments.California is among the stateswith the highest rate of ‘foreclosure’of houses – and one of thehighest rates of homelessness.John AshmoreSquatting lawOn 7 March, a group of MPssubmitted a motion that proposescriminalising squatting.<strong>The</strong> proposal was spearheadedby the ConservativeMP for Hove, Mike Weatherley,and backed by 22 MPs (20 ofwhom are also Conservative).It’s the latest step in a growingcampaign against squatting.According to the Telegraph, JusticeSecretary Kenneth Clarke hasmade changing the law a priority.In December, Housing MinisterGrant Schapps issued guidelinesto property owners advisingthem what action they can takeagainst squatters (as covered in<strong>The</strong> <strong>Pavement</strong>, December 2010)<strong>The</strong> law in England permitssquatters to enter an empty orabandoned property without theowner’s consent, as long as theydon’t cause damage, use utilities(such as electricity or gas) orcommit any criminal offences whenentering or staying. Owners mustcontact go through the civil courtsto have the squatters evicted.Under the new law, squattingwill be a criminal rather than civiloffence, giving police the powerto gain entry to the property byforce and arrest squatters.Squatting is already illegal inScotland, where arrested squatterscan face a maximum fineof £200, or 21 days’ imprisonmentif the fine is not paid.An unusual amendmentwas added to the motion byConservative MP Robert Halfonon 14 March, reading: “at endadd ‘with the exception ofthe squat in the house of Saifal-Gaddafi in North London’”.<strong>The</strong> motion was debated inWestminster Hall on 30 March.Crispin Blunt, the ParliamentaryUnder Secretary of State (Prisonsand Probation) said a public consultationwould be carried out and suggestedpossible amendments to thelaw, such as giving owners of commercialproperty the same rightsas residential property owners,i.e. making it legal for squattersto break into their property.<strong>The</strong> <strong>Pavement</strong> will followdevelopments regarding theproposed changes, includingthe announcement of when thepublic consultation will begin.According to the Evening Standard,this is expected to be afterthe local elections in May.Carinya SharplesGuilty in St HelensA 25-year-old man has pleadednot guilty to murdering a roughsleeper in St Helens, near Liverpool,in late January this year, reports theLiverpool Echo. Darren Bolger wasfound collapsed in an alley off oneof the main streets in the town, andhad suffered severe head injuries.Doctors tried to save Darren, 40,but he was pronounced dead laterthat evening. Stephen Thompsonappeared by video link at LiverpoolCrown Court to plead not guilty andwill remain in police custody untilhis trial begins at the start of June.John Ashmore
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