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LA locals, city leaders clash over needle programs
Federal and local law enforcement arrested 18 people and seized drugs in a sweeping operation targeting an alleged open-air drug market at MacArthur Park. Some local business owners praised the crackdown but criticized city leaders and called for an end to needle and pipe distribution programs.
LOS ANGELES - Reaction is pouring in, 24 hours after federal and local law enforcement agencies carried out a sweeping drug operation called "Free MacArthur Park." Eighteen people were arrested, and a large amount of drugs was recovered in the latest effort to deal with what prosecutors and quite a few locals describe as an open-air drug market operating in the park and surrounding area.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli says the operation was designed to "liberate the park from an open-air drug market that's proliferated here for too long."
"You better do this every week," said locals, like the owners of Langer's Deli.
He applauds the operation but has strong criticism for local leaders. He, and others here, are asking Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Council Member Eunice Hernandez to stop city contracts with needle and pipe distribution programs in the area.
They add that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass promised to do as much when she was part of press events touting efforts to improve safety in the area, including increasing LAPD patrols, which, according to the owner of the property Langer's sits in, have been reduced.
LAPD referred us to the mayor’s office, which sent us the following statement:
"Mayor Bass supports the health and safety of all Angelenos. She wants to see people struggling with addictions get the help they need to gain and maintain sobriety. Needle exchange programs like this are not designed to end people's addictions, and we should be doing everything we can to end drug use in our parks — especially given the increased use of deadly drugs like fentanyl. Mayor Bass worked for years in the L.A. County General emergency room and is a trained clinician who understands the real-life impacts of our drug crisis."
Council Member Eunice Hernandez's office issued the following statement:
"There is no City-run needle exchange or distribution operating inside MacArthur Park. Like many major cities and counties across the country, Los Angeles has funded public health and harm reduction initiatives for over 30 years. These are citywide and countywide public health programs that are not funded or directed by Council District 1. Since taking office, Councilmember Hernandez has launched several additional public health initiatives in and around MacArthur Park, including Overdose Response Teams through a partnership with the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health, as well as USC Street Medicine teams to provide outreach, overdose prevention, medical care and behavioral health support directly in the community. She has also funded Peace Ambassador teams that provide violence intervention and deescalation. These strategies are data-driven, effective, and save lives. According to L.A. County data, the ZIP code encompassing MacArthur Park saw a nearly 33% decrease in overdoses among people experiencing homelessness from 2023-2024, the first year our public health initiatives in the area went online. Our office remains committed to investing in proven, long-term public health solutions that improve safety, save lives, reconnect families, and help people access treatment and housing after decades of federal failure to address the opioid epidemic and hold pharmaceutical corporations accountable for the crisis they helped create."
Locals say the needle program is a giveaway, not an exchange program, insisting it's a huge attraction to drug users from all over, who then buy fentanyl and meth from dealers operating openly in the area.