Homeless Deaths in Los Angeles County Reach Epidemic Proportions

Sept. 5, 2019 (EIRNS)—Reflecting the culture of death deliberately imposed on many large American cities, the Los Angeles Times reported today that nearly three homeless people die every day in Los Angeles County, a rate now reaching epidemic proportions. “They are dying on sidewalks, along riverbeds, and in tents, parks, shelters, vehicles, motels and hospitals,” the Times reports, estimating that more than 1,000 homeless people will die this year in the county.

The deaths of homeless people, as a result of illness, addiction, accidents, suicide, and the “ravages of being unsheltered,” the Times adds, is nearly double the rate of deaths by homicide. Dr. Susan Partovi, who has been treating homeless people in Los Angeles for years, commented that “we know the research says that people who are what’s called rough sleepers, those who are living on the streets and not in a shelter or a car, are 10 times more likely to die than the regular population.”

The average age of the first 666 homeless people who died in Los Angeles County as of Aug. 25 was 51, which is well below the county’s average life expectancy of roughly 80 years. And, according to this report, bodies are found in virtually every corner of the county. In 2012, there were 407 homeless people who died in the county, and the rate has increased every year since, with 2018 reaching a record high of 921. In the first six months of this year, 525 homeless individuals died, which is 88 more than for the same period of 2018.

According to Brian Elias, chief of investigations for the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office, “we’re seeing homeless deaths in areas where we didn’t see them five or ten years ago.... In a region of abundant wealth and world-class hospitals, people die penniless, they die in pain, they die alone.”