Report: 900 homeless people died in L.A. last year

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - There were 900 deaths of unhoused people in Los Angeles in 2023, a 22% reduction as compared to the previous year, City Controller Kenneth Mejia reported Thursday.

The City Controller's Office released a map of unhoused deaths in 2023 using data obtained from the County Medical-Examiner Coroner. The map shows details such as age, gender, cause and mode, as well as the Council District and location where each death occurred. While last year there was a reduction in homeless deaths, the controller's office said "any number of unhoused deaths is unacceptable."

In response to the controller's report, Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement Thursday saying, "Every death that occurs is a tragedy and we express our condolences to those friends, family and community members who have lost a loved one due to this crisis."

She added, "The focus of our work has been to take urgent action to save lives and while the controller's data released today indicates a decrease in deaths, we know that there is still much more work to be done."

Highlights of the controller's analysis showed that the most common mode of death was categorized as an "accident" (about 678 deaths or 75%). About 40, or 4%, homeless people were murdered in 2023, accounting for 12% of all homicides in the city. Unhoused people represent about 1% of the population.

Of the 900 deaths in 2023, 160 (or 18%) of deaths were natural, 16 (or 2%) were suicide and 6 (or 1%) were undetermined. The City Controller's Office noted they classified these as "mode of death" because the mode can take a while to investigate and conclusions are preliminary.

Additionally, at least 338 (or 73%) of deaths were in streets or areas without proper utilities, such as tents, parking lots, parks, RVs and vacant buildings, according to the analysis.

Most common places of death took place on the streets, freeways, tunnels and sidewalks.

About 135 unhoused people died in a healthcare facility, 70 unhoused people died in vehicles, 48 unhoused people died in some type of residence and 38 unhoused people died in a tent.

Black people, who are homeless, represent 31% of these deaths, while Black people represent 8% of the city's general population and 33% of the city's unhoused population.

About 274 (or 30%) of white unhoused people died in 2023, and 289 (or 32%) of Hispanic/Latino unhoused people died last year as well.

The City Controller's Office noted that January, February and March were the most deadly months for unhoused people in 2023.

Council District 1 and 14 -- the downtown, north, northeast areas -- had the highest numbers of deaths, as well as having some of the highest unhoused populations.

CD 14 had 269 deaths, accounting for 29.9% of unhoused deaths in 2023, followed by 105 deaths or 11.7% in CD 1, and 77 or 8.6% of deaths in CD 13 (Hollywood area).

According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the highest unhoused populations in 2022 were in CD 14, 9 and 1, followed closely by 6 and 13.

L.A. City Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez, who represents the First District, called the report "tragic" and that it reflects the unacceptable reality facing Los Angeles.

"This is exactly why we are pushing to advance harm reduction services to keep people alive, to bring in more street medicine teams, and to offer dignified housing solutions and wrap-around services," Hernandez said in an email to City News Service.

"At least 80 percent of the deaths in District 1 were ruled an accident, but when you dig into the data, it is clear that the overwhelming majority of these people were impacted by the opioid crisis that is gripping Los Angeles and the country."

According to Hernandez, a "devastating number" of these deaths occurred around MacArthur Park, where the opioid epidemic has taken a "terrible toll."

She highlighted a plan she put forward last week for an updated proposal to create a respite center and increase harm reduction services in that area, using $3 million from opioid settlement funds the city is set to receive.

"I will continue fighting for this funding and for my district," Hernandez said. "But the city must act with more urgency to move this forward along with other life-saving measures."

Hernandez added, "We cannot look away from this crisis -- the consequences of simply shuffling people from one neighborhood to the next and prioritizing criminalization over the delivery services are at best ineffective, and at worst, deadly."

Councilman Kevin de León, who represents the 14th District, echoed his colleagues.

"Living on the streets is a matter of life and death and precisely why my team and I are fighting like hell to build more interim housing and get people off the streets and connected to the services they need," de León said in a statement.

Council District 14 had a total of 9,204 unhoused residents, the most of other council districts, according to LAHSA's dashboard from 2022. Mejia's map shows that a majority of unhoused deaths in the 14th District occurred in downtown Los Angeles and a result of an "accident" -- details show the death was related to substance abuse.

The county of L.A. partners with the city and oversees funding and certain services related to homelessness and housing. The office of L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Solis represents the First District, which encompasses the downtown, northeast and east L.A. areas.

LAHSA, in a statement, welcomed the news of a 22% year-over-year decrease in deaths among people experiencing homeless in the city while recognizing that there is "no such thing as an acceptable number of deaths among our unhoused neighbors."

"LAHSA and our partners will continue saving lives by bringing inside as many people as we can," the agency said. "We will also continue to pursue measures that can save lives on the street, including training the rehousing system's workforce in how to recognize an overdose and apply countermeasures like Naloxone."

The agency reiterated it is committed do doing what it takes to "keep people safe and put them on a path to permanent housing."