Dozens of street vendors and activists took to the streets outside the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters Tuesday to protest what they say is a rise in police harassment, as city leaders are weighing a possible street vendor permitting program.
Protesters could be seen with signs reading "We are not criminals," and another that read, "My dad put food on our table by selling watermelons."
Mike Dennis, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Street Vendor Campaign, said that after a recent hearing at city hall, vendors saw an uptick in vendor harassment, including raids by police and health officials, confiscation of equipment and ticketing of vendors.
"These folks operate outside the formal economy," Dennis said. "They generate $47 million in potential revenue a year, and they need respect just like any other stakeholders in the community so we're here to advocate for vendors' rights."
Dennis said there have been cases in which vendors were met with verbal harassment from police and threatened with having their goods confiscated, Dennis said.
"There's a lot of verbal harassment that's not tracked, and that kind of harassment and that treatment is undignified," Dennis said, adding that the protest is aimed at putting pressure on the LAPD to decriminalize street vending while City Hall works to legalize the activity.
Members of the group issued a "citizen's citation'' to police Chief Charlie Beck during the gathering. Officials were receptive to the protest but did not issue further comment.
The City Council's Economic Development Committee is still debating the issue and a task force has been meeting regularly to craft the proposed program, Dennis said.
The rally came on the same day as a march by labor leaders calling for immigration reform and better conditions for the city's produce workers, both demonstrations on a holiday to remember Cesar Chavez, crediting with improving conditions for immigrant farmworkers in central California.
