LOS ANGELES – A homeless person walks into a cafe in downtown Los Angeles, steals a drink, and casually moves on.

It is a common occurrence facing business owners, who have limited ways to handle the theft.

The manager of the Paris Baguette bakery, Jesus Menjivar, says theft takes place every day. According to Menjivar, harassment against him, his employees, and his customers from individuals struggling with homelessness has become the norm.

“Well we work behind the counter so it’s really hard for us to get to them. Sometimes we just let them go because it’s really hard to even try to fight them,” said Menjivar. “Or even approach them because we don’t know what do they have or what they could do to us.”

In these situations Menjivar calls security, which is a call he has to make every single day.

“So I don’t know what we can do about it,” said Menjivar.

Surrounding residents have also felt the pressure and desperation of the homeless population. However, some homeless individuals don’t always steal, says Menjivar. It can be hard for him to decipher how they should react. The employees constantly deal with the fear of violence erupting.

“We come in at four in the morning, they’re by themselves and we see a lot of them out. There’s a lot of my employees that are scared to come inside at four in the morning because it’s so lonely out here and it’s still dark. So it’s really dangerous for us. That’s why we try to give out keys to every employee so they could just walk in real quick instead of waiting for the manager to come in,” said Menjivar.

Situated in the downtown area the business attracts many tourists as well. Menjivar has to manage not just the safety of his employees, but also, the safety and comfort of his customers.

“It definitely pushes away business. The customers are afraid to come to our door. They decide to go somewhere else when they’re out here in front of our door,” said Menjivar.

Managers like Menjivar are essentially on double duty. Managing the business, and protecting their team.