Crime Against Street Vendors
Street vendors have been present and are found everywhere in Los Angeles County.
The Los Angeles area is home to an estimated 50, 000 street vendors.
Street vendors cart sell everything from slides mangos to bacon-wrapped hot dogs.
The street vendors are just like everyone else, trying to make an honest living.
Street vending have been discriminated and harassed. And now
in recent years have been the target of criminals.
According to Los Angeles Police Department public data, it shows that
there's were 43 reports of crimes against vendors in July 2023. This number is the highest
monthly tally since 2010. Below is a chart that shows the monthly reports of crime
against vendors from 2021 thru 2023.
The number of crimes could be higher, but some crimes go unreported.
Some of the victims are hesitant to report the crime, due to their legal status, the language
barrier, and the fear of retaliation.
Not only have the crimes against vendors increased, but so has the number of violent incidents.
From Jan. 2023 thru Aug. 2023, vendors have been victims of robbery 88 times.
In the chart below, we can see how robberies have increased thru out the years.
Vendors not only have to deal with fighting the city in order to be allow to sell their products,
and jumping thru hops, and constantly having the city change
their regulations and making it hard for them to obtain permits, and not to mention costly,
but now they also have to fear for their lives.
Why I choose this issue?
The reason I chose to base my civil engagement project in street vendors
was because at one point in my parents lives, in the pursue of progressing in this country
they bought a fruit cart and decided to sell fruit. I remember my mom
coming back home one day crying because a public health inspector came to where she was selling
fruit, and threw away everything, despite having the proper permits and all.
The fact that my mom didn't understand English, could have played a factor
for the inspector to abuse his power and humiliate my mom.
In reason years I have seen in the news how street vendors have been attacked and robbed at gun
point, when the only thing they were doing is trying
to survive and provide for their families.
And as mention above, some of the vendors don't report the crimes
because they are afraid due to their legal status,
and I believe that criminals take advantage of that factor.
Interview
6 years. I question him whether he has experience any crimes,
and he said he has. "Yes, they have robbed me twice already,
and I have no other option but to give them the money".
I asked him, whether he has reported the crime or not and
he said he didn't, and when I asked him why he simply said,
"because of fear, I know I am illegal here, and don't want to have
any bad record, or for the bad people to retaliate against me".
What would you like to tell the world about being a
street vendor?
"We are not bad people, we are just trying to work and
make honest money. I need to support my family. We don't want
to go to work and be afraid we might get robbed or killed,
like we see in the news of fellow colleagues".
What is being done to help:
Because of many vendors being victims if crime, some have contemplate getting out of business
Some have experience depression and not wanting to leave their beds. Sone activists have been providing
security free of charge to try to keep them safe. LAPD
has stated that they take robberies toward street vendors seriously and
it's gotten to the point where street vendors were bullet proof vest, in order to survive a day at the job.
Work Cited:
Sonoda, M. (2023, September 7). Crimes Against Street Vendors reached new high in July. Crosstown. https://xtown.la/2023/09/07/crimes-against-los-angeles-street-vendors-reached-new-high-in-july/#:~:text=According%20to%20publicly%20available%20Los,the%2020%20reports%20in%20June.
Crime spree targets La’s street vendors. Spectrum News. (n.d.). https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/la-times-today/2023/08/30/crime-spree-targets-la-s-street-vendors
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