Public parks, sidewalks, and streets belong to the public, not any one person or any one group, and must be protected and maintained on behalf of the public. As District Attorney, I will remove dangerous, violent, unsafe and unsanitary homeless encampments on public property in full accordance with the law. I have worked with HOST (Homeless Outreach Services Team), which partners trained law enforcement officers with those from the LA Homeless Services Authority, LA Department of Mental Health, LA Department of Public Works, and non-profit homeless organizations to successfully and compassionately remove homeless encampments throughout the county, implementing their five-point protocol (identify, assess, outreach, notice, relocate). In my administration, prosecutors will hold those that violate the law accountable but work to direct those suffering from mental illness or substance abuse disorders into treatment. I will encourage the use of mental health and drug courts staffed by prosecutors, defense attorneys, social workers and judges who understand mental illness and addiction to find the best solutions for the mentally ill and substance addicted. They will receive assistance with medication, therapy, housing, education, and job training. Because many of the people experiencing homelessness have mental health issues, the mental health court can be an excellent place to intervene and break the cycle of homelessness. I will work to make the CARE courts a success in treating those with severe mental illness since the alternative is to incarcerate them in jails where they receive little to no assistance with their illness or put them back on the street which is condemning them to a life fraught with violence and danger. I will also work to expand CARE courts to those suffering from substance addictions.