*There are two appalling things in Los Angeles’ chronic homeless crisis. One is that despite a drop in the number of unhoused people who died in 2024, the number is still shockingly high.
According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, 2,208 people experiencing homelessness died in Los Angeles County in 2024, the latest year for which mortality data is available. That was 300 fewer than in 2023.
Still, that means an average of more than six unhoused people died every day.
The second appalling thing is the glaring racial disparity in who experiences homelessness. Black people make up only about 9% of Los Angeles County’s population but roughly 30% of its homeless population.
I have written before in EURweb about the disturbing number of Black men sleeping on Los Angeles sidewalks. Their disproportionate presence among the unhoused means far too many Black lives are exposed to the dangers that come with homelessness.
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Overall, the mortality rate among people experiencing homelessness remains 4.2 times greater than that of the general Los Angeles County population.
Worse still, even the decline in deaths could be reversed. County health officials warn that federal and state funding reductions threaten homeless services and the progress that has been made.
This is a crisis, and it must be treated as such. Los Angeles officials must make curbing preventable deaths among the unhoused a crisis priority. That demands everything from emergency response assistance and health and substance-use treatment to expanded shelter and permanent housing placement — and it demands it now.
There are thousands of lives at stake in taking increased action on this hideous problem. And because Black Angelenos remain disproportionately represented among the unhoused, many of them are Black lives.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His forthcoming book is “The Garbaging of America” (Amazon ebook and Middle Passage Press).
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