Insanity: Steve Hilton Uncovers Why Police Can’t Clear LA’s Homeless Camps

One of the enduring and growing issues in Los Angeles, and California in general, is the persistent problem of homelessness. The issue has been metastasizing for decades and accelerating over the last few years. There is a level of acceptance, due to Democrat-run ineptitude, because, after all, who really expects that party to deliver results? This is taking place for reasons beyond just Governor Gavin Newsom’s and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass’s empty, long-pledged promises to address the problem.

Now we are seeing that it is worse than their simply paying vacant lip service; there are active steps being taken to block attempts to address the issue.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton recently took a walk through L.A.’s infamous Skid Row, and the jarring content stretches well beyond the visuals. As he perambulates with others through the detritus, side-stepping the prone addicts streetside, Hilton gets told that a major factor in this reality is that when police are dispatched to go in and begin clearing the sidewalks, they are legally prevented from doing so.

It is an insane reality, but homeless advocates have taken to the courts to halt any attempt at getting the drug users and other indigents who are a blight on the community removed for the general safety of the region.

I’ve been to Skid Row in Downtown LA many times. This was the most infuriating trip yet.

Newsom, Becerra, Bass: How can you sleep at night knowing this is happening on your watch? pic.twitter.com/9hdKAaaKNK

— Steve Hilton (@SteveHiltonx) June 28, 2026

The logic behind this, if that word has any kind of purchase in this discussion, is that it is deemed a personal property issue, and that the police are violating individual rights by forcibly evicting these people – who are illegally occupying public spaces and committing various crimes in the process.

The outfit behind this bat guano drive is the Los Angeles Community Network (LA CAN), and they have been using the courts on the regular to halt any efforts at cleaning up the city. What has been transpiring is a perfect storm of bureaucratic insanity that typifies California politics. In short, the state and local officials exhibited the foot-dragging and sloth we have come to expect, so the city was sued by another group — the LA Alliance for Human Rights — to force them to enact common sense and enact the laws to compel cleanup of the homeless areas in the city.

Since 2020, this battle has been waged, as the city was told it must come up with a plan to remove and provide shelter for those cured of urban agoraphobia, and the results have been so dismal that it has led to more lawsuits against the city over a lack of compliance. The city’s spending on homelessness is on approach to $1 billion annually. Again, this is just for the city of Los Angeles, and it has been incapable of even stemming the growth of the problem.

And now we see that there is this NGO out there taking legal action to prevent even a modicum of effort at addressing the problem. What we seem to be witnessing is the inevitable paradox of many (most) activist organizations. They are established to solve a social ill, but once the money starts flowing in, the last thing they intend to do is solve the problem they have been charged to address, as that means the slush would evaporate. 

It appears that LA CAN is supremely focused on legal battles, not actually going into the problem areas and benefiting those in need. Arguing last summer against these types of cleanup projects, the LA CAN lawyer resisted the plan of having an outside outfit come in to take the needed action, because that would possibly lead to the last thing they want to see – results.

“This is very complex,” argued the LA CAN counsel, “and no one has the answers. And certainly, it’s not up to all of us to decide these huge issues right here. It’s up to local governments, elected officials and dedicated public servants … not the alliance.” 

That would be the very same local governments and elected officials who have proved for years that they are noticeably NOT dedicated to addressing the homelessness issue. And as was explained to Hilton during that walkthrough, the office of Karen Bass works in tandem with LA CAN, as the group continues to Hoover up the donations.

The NGO LA CAN keeps LAPD away. With sub division STOP LAPD SPYING COALITION is under the LA CAN . They don’t want the streets cleaned up. Their money comes from the people on the streets. This is the reported income for 2025. pic.twitter.com/37pmC54gzJ

— D Rom (@micortazonzz1) July 13, 2026

Clearly, this is entirely about advocacy, not solutions. It is seen in another effort that appears to be purely made with a focus on exposure and bringing in more donations. LA CAN has its own choral group, the Freedom Singers. This ensemble has appeared on “America’s Got Talent” and “The Kelly Clarkson Show.” As you can expect, their outreach is meant to bring awareness to the homelessness issue in L.A. 

TRANSLATION: To drive donations for the organization.

You see the mentally impacted operations in play here. These Freedom Singers are comprised of formerly “unhoused” individuals. This means they are now raising money for the outfit that is literally battling against efforts to get people off the streets. You cannot make it make sense, because this is California, after all.

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