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Mayor Parris refutes ACLU report on Lancaster’s treatment of homeless

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[Left] Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris [Right] Click image to view the ACLU’s 64-page report.]
LANCASTER – Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris accused the ACLU Tuesday of getting it wrong in a report concerning the homeless in his city, saying that many indigent persons would rather camp in the Mojave Desert than live on the streets of Los Angeles where they could be murdered in their sleep.

In its report, the civil rights group contends that Lancaster is “at war” with homeless persons in the area and has pushed many of them to harsh, isolated and life-threatening conditions in the desert.

“We’re not dropping these people out in the desert,” Parris said in an interview. “I don’t want people out there with no water. But they’d rather go out into the desert than go back to L.A. where they’re (at risk of being) raped and killed.”

Parris said the city of Lancaster is working to help, not hinder the progress of homeless people into housing. Pointing to last year’s opening of the Kensington Campus, a 14-acre full-service campus that is a mix of permanent and supportive housing, jobs, counseling and other services, Parris said the project, when completed, will offer a stable environment for more than 400 individuals.

“The whole purpose was to create an environment where people could thrive in a safe, supportive place,” Parris said.

The ACLU report, “Banished and Abandoned: Criminalization and Displacement of Unhoused People in Lancaster,” alleges that the city’s homeless are subject to harassment and exorbitant fines for doing as little as sitting in a public park for a few minutes or sleeping outdoors — something the authors say is unavoidable for people who have no access to housing or shelter.

“Responding to homelessness by criminalizing, banishing and disenfranchising our unhoused neighbors is unlawful and potentially deadly,” said Eve Garrow, homelessness policy analyst and advocate at the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California. “It must stop now.”

People experiencing homelessness make up only 1.3% of Lancaster’s population, according to a U.S. Census report cited by the ACLU, but they represent more than 25% of sheriff’s department contacts in Lancaster that result in municipal citations, with fines usually far beyond a person’s means to pay, the ACLU contends.

Parris, however, said the city of Lancaster acts in accordance with an appeals court ruling that bars the arrest of homeless people for sleeping in public if no shelter space is provided.

“We know that once they have criminal records, it’s almost impossible to find work,” Parris said. “I don’t want low-level offenders to have criminal records.”

The ACLU report details alleged violations of the U.S. and California constitutions in the treatment of unhoused people in Lancaster, including restricting their movements, denying them due process, and inflicting cruel and unusual punishment for human conduct as basic as seeking refuge in the shade.

More than 50 people who are homeless in Lancaster and its surrounding area in the Mojave Desert — whether living in tents, cars, or sleeping on the ground — were interviewed over a nearly two-year period for the report, according to the ACLU.

Nearly all those interviewed outside city limits said law enforcement officers had given them a direct order or firm “suggestion” to relocate, though some chose to do so in an attempt to escape harassment. Because sheriff’s deputies also patrol unincorporated areas outside Lancaster, the harassment often continues, according to the report. Parris objected to the ACLU’s charge that Lancaster is engaged in a “war” with its homeless population.

“That’s not true, but am I going to allow people to sleep wherever they want and try and get money from people who are shopping? That’s not going to happen,” Parris said. “I’m 69 years old. What are they going to do to me?”

Previous related story: ACLU report: Homelessness criminalized in Lancaster

62 comments for "Mayor Parris refutes ACLU report on Lancaster’s treatment of homeless"

  2. Rex loves Communist China more than Biden. It wasnt Biden who invited the Communist Chinese to have front row seats to observe what goes on at Plant 42.

  3. Why would anyone believe a word Parris said? He and his sidekick Marv claimed that 67 homeless people a day were being sent from LA to Lancaster. That is over 24,400 people a year. Lancaster has a lot of homeless people but no where near 24,400.

    Everyone would be best off to keep the pressure on Rex and hold him accountable for his lies and his war against the homeless. He tries to tie the homeless into his rising crime rate but it is not the homeless committing all the crimes in his city.

  5. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE HOMELESS RIGHT NOW YOU DOUCHEBAG!! ITS NOT THAT PRESSUNG TO YOU . YOU HAVE A HOME. STAY ON TOPIC . TRYING YOUR PARTISIAN POLITICS HERE. SIMPLE MINDED MORON. THAT’S YOU!!!

  6. I worked at a local homeless assistance
    Center. Mayor Parris is correct. Many homeless are offered hotels or now nice chain hotels. They MUST comply with rules: no drugs, and extra friends they invite in. Refusal by choice of some homeless is them NOT Parris. Where is our VETERANS housing???

    • You sound like a fellow elitist like your mayor. Don’t act like they have offered the homeless anything but threats to leave or be arrested for over a year. You guys are such liars.

  7. If your truly tired of all the trash in the city, why don’t you start going after The people the dump trash in a desert in all the companies the do their illegal dumping, when was the last time you saw a homeless person Changing their tubs In their tent and leaving the old ones in the middle of the desert, or the pianos for that matter, Couches ,mattresses, toilet, Be realistic Homeless people May have mental illnesses, use drugs, ask for money, Do you know anyone that has a home that is a drug addict , that has mental illness? Both cities in the county has failed the community Rex is too busy making his French rich and probably get a side piece For over spending money on a 400 unit that is not even the capacity, What are we supposed to do with the other 4000 people? Affordable Housingt reatment centres ,resources

  8. I’m homeless not a drug addict or alcoholic, I’ve never been in trouble with the law EVER, I do have a terminal illness which makes getting a job near impossible, I’m not dirty, I clean up after myself, I’m in college hoping that might help my circumstances, I’m polite, I don’t harass anyone but according to most of you I enjoy being homeless, I’m a scumbag, I ought to be (insert one of many insults y’all have said), so thanks to those of you who are prime examples of what’s wrong with this city and country I applaud y’all for being so wise and compassionate I pray you or no one you care about finds themselves homeless or hungry cuz contrary to popular opinion no sane homeless person enjoys it and those that are mentally ill honestly don’t enjoy it either they’re sick n need help but hey pass judgment sit up there looking down spewing hate endorsing Parris what comes around goes around maybe not today or tomorrow but eventually in some way things even out, but hey what do I know ima scumbag that’s worthless in y’all eyes. I’m nothing from nowhere, I’m no one.

    • That’s is what the rich or all people
      having success, good jobs, homes. Of a truth you’ve been stereotype by this system. Just as black and brown himan beings. I believe God’s judgement is falling on the land from the White House too States, Cities that have abused, neglected the Poor and the homeless. As mush money that America has and empty federal and government buildings there should be no homeless in California. I am a believer of God’s word. It is written He that helps the poor lends to God. When were you hungry, out door sick. Jesus said To the less of these my little ones. You have done it to me. Daniel keep moving forward. I will be praying for you. To prosper as you are helping yourself. Destiny Protectors International Prayer Call Center. In Lancaster been call to pray for this Antelope Valley.

  9. I’d love to say the comments made by Parris is surprising but they aren’t, coming from a man who is so comfortable lying to the press but even worse to his constituents. What would be shocking is if he actually owned up to some of the things he’s done or sanctioned but that will never happen. Considering many police officers have point blank told me with glee that Parris has told them to “make them leave” “make sure they get the picture, they aren’t wanted here” and worse when referring to the homeless community. It’s horrific that we have a mayor that thinks what he’s doing is OK but even worse he’s now given am already corrupt police dept. carte blanche on absolutely unacceptable behavior when it comes to the homeless community. This is a long time coming and without a doubt is just the tip of the iceberg, as I’ve no doubt this case is going to shine a spotlight on not jus a horrible mayor and police dept. But truly horrible people that need to be held accountable for their abhorrent actions.

  10. All you defending the homeless you swear that they want help right? No they like it like that always drunk and trashing everywhere they go . Tired of seeing them everywhere.

    • Ditto Danielle. You and I have a lot in common and I feel the same. You are not alone. Not all of us are addicts or criminals. Remember… There but by the grace of God go I…1 Corinthians 15 8-10

  11. … squandering millions beautifying downtown Lancaster, city council was horrified to discover, they’ve inadvertently turned downtown into a magnet, for inner-city L.A. homeless. Just a quick trip up the Metrolink, end-of the line, perfect point of destination, a sanctuary for downtown L.A. homeless to escape skid row –

  12. ACLU, needs to back off of Mayor Parris. He has to deal with all of the idiots that live there. Welfare recipients and people out of the LA prison system that commute there! Its aweful there! Mayor Parris is the one positive person that represents the community.

    • Surely you jest. If anything the ACLU and others need to turn up the heat on Rex. He has made countless reckless statements for years. In the past two years, it has gotten much worse. The lie about a sheriff being shot by a person in a mental health facility was one thing, but now he has advocated for shooting homeless if a robbery attempt is made? What if a homeless person approaches you asking for money? You could interpret that as robbery attempt. Then what? According to him, it’s shoot. That is disgusting.

      Also, a positive person does not send someone to prison for 10 years for a crime he did not commit.

      Dealing with Rex is dealing with a real idiot.

      • He didn’t send anyone to prison for ten years. Using someone to promote your own agenda is appalling.

        • Another Parrisite resorting to revisionist history, I see. Sorry, liar, but we all remember Jennings and Parris’ stacking courts over and over to try to convict him – no matter that there was no actual evidence that he did it. We all also remember that this is not the only time Parris has done such things.

          Parris is an evil man… and you support him.

      • Get this clown out of office. Start an investigation . You know he’s dirty . I can only imagine . Heartless , low intelligence, and
        what else???

    • … ACLU attorneys, just being ACLU attorneys, notching their holsters, pushing the little people around, racking up the billable hours, sucking up the perks on paid overnight stays, trying to get themselves on TV, the ACLU could care less about the homeless –

    • Attack dog of the democrat party, never will the ACLU ever act, to the detriment of the status, power and prestige of the democrat political party.

    • Number 1 objective of Rex, destroy lives of anyone who dares challenge his bizarre ways, the only thing he cares about is money and power, infuriating people who care about the AV. The crimes of the century are not limited to LEAPS, Kensington, Traction Seal, fake sheriff’s shooting, criminalization of the homeless, and character assassination. Rex could care less.

    • The homeless should be setting up camp all around Rex house on the beach and block his garage and drive to teach him a lesson and pee in his driveway

  14. Is karma finally catching up with Rex? After years of ruining people, treating the homeless and poor like dirt, lining the pockets of his friends, and multiple lies, the light is shining in the Darkness that is Rex’s Lancaster. Maybe the ACLU should look into the process of how Kensington came to be and who built it, in comparison to the other option at the County building which would have served far more many people in need at no cost to them. Maybe this is the crack in dam that will bring the house of cards down.

      • The $31 million that Rex is spending on his no bid contract to his political pal could have and should have been used on the county building on I. In that facility, there would have been beds for 1,400 at no cost and services. Instead, we have a beautiful building that serves a very small fraction of that number and it costs to live there.

        It would also be helpful to stop dehumanizing homeless people by suggesting they be shot if they try to rob you. Robbery is wrong, but homeless are more likely to be the victim of crime than the perpetrator. We don’t shoot shoplifters, although that is probably something this mayor would endorse. He said people who go out in public with Covid should be shot. He seems to think shooting solves everything. He should be thankful that when he was doing drugs and committing crimes someone didn’t think shooting was the answer.

        Also, working with the county instead of trashing them every time he opens his mouth would be useful.

        Rex is big on medical cannabis, solar energy, and hydrogen power. All good things. Too bad he doesn’t have the same passion for drug treatment, homeless prevention, job training, and temporary housing.

        He had a chance to lead and he blew it again. Just like he did with Section 8, Communist Chinese birth tourism, the fake sheriff shooting, LEAPS, Traction Seal, Ecolution, et. al.

        • I wanna know when Rex is gonna admit he failed as the worst mayor of all time because Lancaster has declined by 15% each year in Rex hands Rex don’t want jobs in Lancaster he wants everyone to suffer and drive to LA for work

          • Rex hires out of town contractors to work locally and wants locals to be poor Rex has hired over 500 contractors from out of town to work in Lancaster in the last 12 years and look at all the gang spray painting everywhere in Lancaster and what about the whole fake deputy shooting all that came out of Rex big fat mouth live on national television he told lies he should be in federal prison

  15. Lancaster contracts with an “out of area” collection company making it impossible to fight fines. You would think they would want to hire local people to run collection’s and create a fair due process for fine disputes. I am glad someone finally sued the city to correct abuse by city. Not just for homeless but all people who have received city fines unfair process.

    AV has a higher homeless count per capita then LA is fact. Higher then anywhere in Southern California possiblythe State. AV doesn’t get it’s fair share of funding from LA County. AV needs its own HUD District like other cities seperate from LA County so we have local control and direct funding from HUD and State and County Homeless Measure sales tax. AV needs its own County Jail to house locally and not send them to Downtown LA. Treat and Teach them job skills locally in a AV Facility to stop AV generational poverty and drug abuse. Solutions to local problems if anyone is listening.

    • Many of them here are not just homeless. They’re prodigal junkies that hate this town as they treat it like a dumpster to be vandelized. I say put them in a grinder and feed em to the homeless. Soilent green burger patties. That’s one sollution to hunger. As for job skills, they can learn to flip them burger patties on a makeshift grill. I would have far more compasion if they didnt treat this town like a dump. The only solution to the problem is incarcerate and rehabilitate or let them get loaded till they’re scooped off the side of the road. What would be better? What would be more humanitarian like?

        • Rex has to be a democrat because only Democrats out source jobs just like Rex hires out of town contractors to work in Lancaster and us locals has to drive to LA for work daily Rex is a failure because if there is 200,000 residents in Lancaster and over 125,000 has to drive to LA daily for work because Rex refuses to have jobs in Lancaster

      • I don’t know if you ever been homeless probably not or you would not think that way. This is not something that happened overnight. It has been going on for years. If you look at newspaper you would see that Rex has made many comments about the homeless and even stated to buy the homeless a bus ticket and put them on a bus to get them out of Lancaster. I have never met a homeless person who wanted to be homeless and not have a job. When someone is homeless it’s not like they can walk into a workplace and fill out a job application. They have no way to shower some of them have only the clothes on there back. Also to eat they go to churches to eat. Some are alcoholics or do drugs and there are those that didn’t start drinking or doing drugs until they became homeless. There was a time that the homeless used bathrooms inside of stores,gas stations etc. Being homeless is you have no self esteem you get up every day and don’t feel like there’s a way out of it. You get up when the sun comes up and think of where your going to take a shower and what church is feeding. Yes they panhandle whether it’s for a drink or whatever or to have money on them because if you didn’t have money on you then you were considered loitering. You got a ticket or arrested. There were public bathrooms and some businesses would let you use theres. Then that stopped. Then panhandling wasn’t allowed. Eating out of dumpsters isn’t something anyone wants to do.Then they started putting locks on dumpsters There some businesses that would let you sweep and mop inside the business or outside and they would give you food or a few dollars It had to be at night so customers didn’t see you. Thank God for tithe people that cared and helped churches and others. Winter time it was Cold and summertime to hot. People that you knew dying in the desert. One death was one to many.

        • I agree with you. I’ve been there dun that. I’ve seen successful people become homeless through no fault of their own. On valley central way, there are homeless people who take shifts begging. We need to fix this problem asap before it gets ANY WORSE

        • Yes I was homeless and had plenty of time to see other homeless for whom they really are which is why I have less sympathy toward most of them. There’s only a hand full that sincerely try to clean up their act and work tooth and nail to make a decent life just to get it taken away by other bums that act like that was an oppurtunity stolen from them and their poverty drug pimps when they never put an ounce of effort towards a positive accomplishment. I was one of those people that had opportunities ripped away by no-lifers that think they run the street. Ive seen good people trying to get ahead just to get pulled back by bumm politics. If you mingle with turds you get seen like a turd. If you stay away from them and seek a better way you will find it. Many so called church people are caught up in this holy hallelujah jibberish but when the tables turn, they most likely will curse their Maker. Trust me, I feel zero sympathy for these turds that trash this town and take you down with them. Get em all the hell outta here. The ones that have more to offer to society and to themselves will find a way to make it. They’ll find help to get on their feet fully.

          • Of course there are people who are homeless by choice. They may choose drugs over everything. There are many more who can’t get back into the system for many reasons that people have listed. Suggesting shooting a homeless person if they try to rob you is reckless. Rex even went so far to suggest that you don’t get a permit. So, use an illegal weapon to shoot? He is unfit to serve.

          • Your right. Lets just let down our defenses, rid of our self defensive tools and let the bums and their pimps harass and threaten our way of life that we choose to maintain. Next time Im assaulted on my yard for not leaving my own property when those bum immigrants told me too for god knows what reason, Ill just turn the other cheek and offer them the inside of my home to tarnish and stink up. Lofl! Its that typical chicken shit game where the bad ones fight politically to have your right to defend yourself taken away so they can harrass you in public and threaten your well being. Now is the time for socialist bums and certain democrats to start behaving themselves. They got the democracy they wanted so badly at the expense of billions of wasted dollars, now they need to earn. Like if thats gonna happen.

    • Jason Zink please think about running for Mayor of Lancaster in the near future.
      We need your YOUTH & INTELLIGENCE.

  16. Mayor Parris is someone who suggested that people shoot the homeless if they attempt to rob you. That is twisted and wrong. He shut down the only homeless shelter in town after getting a million dollars from Los Angeles County. He claimed it would cost too much to build out at the facility on Ave. I , but for the same amount of money handed over a no bid contract to an insider.

    Parris can care less about anyone except himself and people he finds useful to his purposes. He would do everyone a favor by staying put in his Laguna beach mansion and letting people with more sense and compassion handle Lancaster’s affairs.

  17. I’m personally sick and tired of the homeless and the way they trash everywhere they go.

    Give them the choice of:

    1.) cleaning up their act, getting a job and a room with some public aide.

    or…

    2.) get put in a mental institution and forced medication.

    I’m tired of seeing grown men in their 20s and 30s, able bodied and with the capacity to work, just strung out and sleeping on the sides of buildings and street corners.

    Enough is enough!

    • what sick and tired said ^^^^^^
      the trash, the fires, the panhandling
      reopen the residential treatment institutions
      5150 if necessary
      feeling sorry for them is not helping them.

    • Fecal matter and trash everywhere. Funny how you can watch them buy booze and then scurry over to the freeway area and get drunk and or loaded. Garcetti dumps them out here.

  18. If they won’t help themselves, who is going to give a damn about helping them. They’d rather sleep all day being loaded and filthy and nosey when they’re awake. They’d rather be poverty pimped by Hollywood whores that take credit for other peoples work. They rather take whats not theirs and be a pesky burdon to lancaster people trying to make ends meet. Its an insult to those down and out and trying to get back on their feet. Its an insult to taxpayers barely making it. They’re turning lancaster into a crapper and we’re letting it happen? Hell no.

    • You keep saying, “they’d rather,” like you would know what every person without a home thinks and can apply an intent to their circumstances. This is pure arrogance without merit, sir, and is unbecoming of a human being.

      I will grant you that there is, indeed, a significant portion of the homeless community that is historically opposed to reentering the social contract and that those persons will need to be handled a bit differently.

      That said, however, the swelling of the ranks of those who are without ability to stay housed has grown far too much over the last several years to attribute to mere antisocial behavior. No, Alby, we have a bigger problem than just the mental health issues prevalent in the homeless community that you seem to share. The financial gap has grown to the point of homelessness for those who do not share a predilection for such a life and, as such, must be rectified by the community as a whole.

      • Here’s a little merit to my arrogance… actually, I typed it to “One That Knows What Its Like”. To sum it up, I’ve been there and seen with my own two eyes why they’re scumbags and more than half of them don’t have my sympathy other than from my tax dollars.

        • Alright, Alby, we’ll accept, for the moment, that you have some merit to your claims. I would point out the following, however. Either,

          A) You were just like the people that you now despise and managed to redeem yourself,

          or

          B) You weren’t like the people that you despise and are grouping people like yourself into the same category as the former and decrying helping them now.

          Which way you wanna go on that one?

          If you were homeless, then you definitely deserve some credit for rebuilding your life. Why would you want to condemn trying to help others doing the same?

          • (A) could be correct. (B) sounds silly. Like if I’m walking amongst them with gold chains around my neck with a purple hat pointing at them going “nah nah nah nah nah nah”… if I read (B) right. I dont condemn people trying to get out of their mess, whether they created it or not. Opportunities are their if one does their part and takes it seriously. But I found it hard through time to take seriously those who resent this town enough to trash the whole place into a really expensive clean up job for the city and taxpayers, and it is from squatters that take in homeless for underground reasons and they conveniently dump their trash on the otherside of Lancaster. Ive seen it time and again even in my early bloom years.”Some” credit is definately due but obviously not all. If one takes himself seriously with his job, whether its sweeping and mopping or operating a powertool or a forklift SOBERLY, then it can only get better especially when heavy debt is finally paid. I almost considered finding a reason to live in jail, have three meals a day and a shower, but then I got to thinking, “this lifestyle aint gonna get me laid.” So yeah, there’s too much in this world to just give up and be a loaded raodkill on the side of the road. And it’s all by choice.

          • Thank you, Alby, for a frank and straightforward answer. In that light, I ask an honest question.

            Might I ask what kind of program you would suggest that might actually have a positive impact?

          • Im sure your gramma was nice to you too if you ever had one. Oh wait, you just spawned out of the dirt didn’t you? Mature without ever being potty trained. A real Bar customer. A real political talking head. Nice to know you’re still here leeching off other comments without a valid point. Anything usefull? As for Stinger, its sobriety, education and perseverence. And if that don’t work, then suicide would work as it would make room for others to really try to get up and on. My point is out of all this is that bums that trash this place out of spite or whatever reason should get a wake up call from painful reality. Its funny debating to you about why this place shouldn’t get trashed and its like you’re trying to find valid points on why it should.

          • Hey, Alexis, who couldn’t use a hug from their grandma? I know I could. It’s been a rough year.

            @Alby: You misunderstand me, Alby. I, too, want the human detritus of our format of living to be dealt with. I just prefer more humane methods in doing so. My preference, in all cases, would be recovery and reinstatement into the social contract, but I recognize from experiences of my own (personally and professionally) that there is a significant portion of that group that have no interest in doing so.

            Although I certainly appreciate the major efforts required on your part to overcome that position, I have no doubt that you would have been happy to get a helping hand up (not a hand out – that rarely helps) and some guidance from others who had been in circumstances similar to yours and had made it out.

            You’re right that there are, and likely will always be, those who only want to destroy our community and that those must be dealt with firmly, but fairly. But I say, let’s try to whittle those numbers down to the smallest group possible, then still offer help to those who might want to change their ways after being dealt with the other way. Others that remain may truly need assisted living in a mental health facility.

            Why? Not for them, Alby. For US. It isn’t just the treatment and removal of this growing societal illness. It isn’t just being a responsible community and taking care of our own, although that’s a big one. It is being conservative with our resources – human ones – recovering what may be salvaged and remade whole and serviceable, and working on what remains. YOU were able to be recovered into society, albeit at great personal effort with limited assistance, and are (presumably) productively human again. This puts you back in play and able to make the next big breakthrough in whatever it is that fascinates you, thereby advancing us all in that area. As I see it, Alby, if we’re gonna win with all of the challenges the world is giving us here in America, we’re gonna need every player on the team up and ready to contribute. Since any one of these current outcasts may be of service to us all, it behooves us to deal with the issue.