In a city struggling with rising crime rates and an out-of-control homeless crisis, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Wednesday proposed boosting spending for police and funneling a record amount — more than $1 billion — into housing and other programs to help those those living on the streets.
Garcetti said the spending aimed at homelessness, if approved by City Council, would be about 20 times the amount directed at homelessness when he took office in 2013. The proposal comes at a time when makeshift encampments have spread in virtually every neighborhood.
