Los Angeles, California city officials announced a new public safety initiative which implements yoga, meditation and healing circles to homeless communities as an alternative form of unarmed policing. The initiative’s launch cost the city of Los Angeles $2.2 million in city funding.
At a briefing on Monday, Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, who chairs the City Council’s public safety committee, announced the Project TURN initiative-which stands for Therapeutic Unarmed Response for Neighborhoods. The initiative aims at providing trauma training and services to 100 community intervention workers to tackle retaliatory violence.
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Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez announcing the Therapeutic Transportation Pilot Program in October 2020. (Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez’s Office via Facebook)
Unhoused Billy Jones speaks with volunteer Ari Hamilton while Hamilton is canvassing the Echo Park neighborhood. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
“Community-based public safety workers are regularly exposed to high trauma environments and providing comprehensive training and support is an important tenet of how our City will deliver transformative change and strengthen our public safety response and create more equitable investment in a community based public safety model,” Rodriguez said on Monday, according to FOX Los Angeles.
Project TURN hopes that therapy, yoga, meditation, and healing circle will reduce the need for officers to engage in the homeless neighborhoods scattered across Los Angeles. The effectiveness of Project TURN will in part be determined by how successful the workers continue to be in deescalating situations, according to Rodriguez.
“That’s the whole point, is that we want to avoid the crisis before we’re in one,” Rodriguez said.
Unhoused Mario Lopez sleeps on a bus stop bench in Echo Park. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Homelessness has become a pressing issue in Los Angeles as local leaders continue to feel pressure to address the matter amid increasing housing costs.
According to a Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) as of Feb. 2022, there are 69,144 homeless people in Los Angeles County. Throughout 2022, the Los Angeles Police Department reported 229,584 crimes, an 11.6% increase from 2021.
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