By Jorge Casuso
September 12, 2025 -- Last month, a man who had spent a decade homeless finally transitioned into housing, while two others living on Santa Monica's streets agreed to go home to their families.
They were among the cases handled by the Police Department's Homeless Liaison Program (HLP) during the week of August 24 and show the often painstaking efforts it can take to transition the homeless from a life on the streets.
"An HLP officer has been working on a long-term project with an individual who had been homeless for nearly 10 years," reads the entry in SMPD's latest weekly blog, The Blue Notebook.
"Through collaboration with city partners and the use of enforcement, the individual has been placed in interim housing and is now working toward securing permanent supportive housing."
During the same week, two other homeless individuals took part in "Project Homecoming," a City-funded program launched in 2006 that pays for bus fare for homeless persons who want to leave as long as there is someone at the other end to help get them on their feet.
Last month, a homeless veteran signed on to the program when HLP officers cleared the sidewalk in front of The People’s Concern and SaMoShel so the sanitation department could power wash the area.
"During the operation, an officer spoke with a veteran who had been homeless for five years and missed his family," according to the blog.
"The officers contacted the individual’s brother in Phoenix, Arizona, and arranged for his return. A bus ticket was purchased through Project Homecoming, and the man was successfully reunified with his family."
During the same week, HLP Team officers conducting outreach "learned that a woman in a wheelchair was suffering from a serious medical condition," according to the blog.
Officers collaborated with a Salvation Army outreach team to contact her brother in Pennsylvania, police officials reported.
"Through a combined effort, they arranged for the woman to be cleaned up, provided her with fresh clothing, and secured her a bus ticket home.
"An update on September 1 confirmed that she arrived home safely and her brother was extremely thankful for the assistance."
During the seven day stretch, officers on patrol also helped a man who had been "repeatedly cited and arrested for blocking a pedestrian walkway."
"The individual admitted to struggling with methamphetamine addiction and accepted the offer to be connected with the SaMoBridge program. He was cited but also transported to the facility for help."
Run out of two trailers on the Civic Auditorium lot, the State-funded program -- which costs $8 million over three years -- offers a "respite hub" for those with current or prior low-level misdemeanors and non-violent felony convictions.
During the week of August 3, eight homeless individuals who had committed low--level crimes agreed to enter the program, which offers an alternative to jail and a connection to services and housing.
Those helped off the street are part of a homeless population that accounts for approximately one-quarter of calls for police service and more than two-thirds of arrests made.
Of the 80,961 calls for service this year, 21,310 involved the homeless, or 26 percent, while homeless individuals were involved in 1,514 of the 2,143 arrests, or 71 percent.
