EDITOR'S NOTE: The morning after this story first aired on Dec. 5, 2024, police removed people from this South Los Angeles home, according to a neighbor. A Spectrum News photographer captured work crews cleaning trash and re-securing the fence around the property. Inoperable cars in the home’s front yard had been removed, and the house had been boarded up again. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety released the following statement: “As part of LADBS’ ongoing efforts to obtain compliance LADBS coordinated the repair of the fence and clean up of the site, while LAPD vacated the trespasser's and removed an abandoned vehicle. The site is currently being cleaned and secured.” 

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — If good fences make good neighbors, William Flores could use more fence.

“Squatters have been coming in, trespassers have been using our property to jump to the property next door, and they pretty much have been taking over,” said Flores as he pointed toward a vacant house next to the South Los Angeles apartment, where he’s lived for the past two years.

The property next to Flores has been on the LA Department of Building and Safety’s vacant building abatement list since Oct. 5, 2023. Owners of these properties are required to secure them, or the city may step in to make repairs and can eventually demolish the building if necessary, according to the department.

But Flores said frequent calls to 911, the LAPD's 77^th Street Division and 311 — LA’s city services line — haven’t addressed crime and code violation concerns next door.

Other people in the neighborhood expressed similar concerns to Spectrum News.

“It’s very infuriating,” said Flores when Spectrum News recently visited his home near West Manchester Avenue and South Hoover Street. “There is trash being dumped here illegally. There are cars being chopped shopped here.”

Flores said he’s witnessed prostitution, drug use, gang and other illegal activity on a daily basis. As many as 20 people will stay at the home, using a portable toilet in the front yard, Flores said.

At night, squatters unravel electrical tape covering the bottom of the streetlight in front of the home and connect an extension cord that goes back into the house, he said. A makeshift wood covering over the sidewalk ensures no one trips over the cord.

Flores said he once saw someone carrying a television into the house.

Last month, a fire damaged the home. The 1932 duplex’s textured stucco exterior is now marred by a mixture of blackened smoke damage and gang tagging.

More concerning than the piles of trash, inoperable cars and wandering pack of dogs are the screams by women in the home. Flores worries about domestic violence or other possible abuse hidden behind the curtains that cover the home’s broken windows.

“And after we call 911, and they finally do answer, we get transferred to the non-emergency number, where we have to wait again and even then they’re asking us, ‘Oh, are you sure the person is screaming?’ ‘Why do you think they are screaming?’ ‘What are they wearing?’ And I’m not going to put myself in danger to get all of these details they are asking for.”

According to Flores, police don’t always respond when he calls 911. Sometimes officers respond at night and never enter the property, instead shining a flashlight down the roughly 150-foot driveway into the home at the back of the property before leaving.

"We are like, 'Why should we even call the police?'" Flores said. “They’re not gonna do anything.”

He feels similar issues in other parts of the city are addressed quickly and has grown frustrated after submitting more than 50 requests through the city’s 311 app.

In September, after an abandoned home in the affluent Hollywood Hills became a target for taggers, officers were assigned to a special detail to regularly patrol the area, which led to arrests, according to an LAPD news release.

“Just because we might not be monetarily rich doesn’t make us any less human and less in need of [support],” Flores said.

An analysis of data from LAPD and the Department of Building and Safety showed police who patrol Flores’ neighborhood take crime reports at nuisance buildings at a far lower rate than officers in nearby areas and across the city.

City Council District 8, where Flores lives, is patrolled by three police divisions: 77^th Street, Southwest and Southeast.

77^th Street Division officers patrol 41 vacant buildings in Flores’ neighborhood, but they’ve taken seven crime reports at abandoned properties within District 8 so far this year, according to police data. 

Southwest Division officers patrol 13 vacant buildings in their section of District 8. They’ve taken 13 crime reports at those addresses this year, almost double the number of 77^th Street Division officers.

Southeast officers patrol 15 vacant buildings in their part of the district, less than half the number of buildings in the 77^th Street Division, but they’ve taken six crime reports at those buildings this year.

In another part of the city, Harbor Division officers cover 22 vacant properties in Council District 15, and they’ve taken 21 crime reports so far this year–that’s triple the number in Flores’ area.

North Hollywood Division patrols 52 vacant buildings within Council District 2, but they’ve also taken 21 crime reports so far this year.

LAPD declined an interview request for this story but sent the following statement: “The Los Angeles Police Department shares the community’s frustrations with the condition of this property and the public safety issues it creates. Over the last year, we have responded to over 20 calls at this location regarding quality-of-life and public safety issues. This level of response drains police resources and, what’s worse, it makes community members feel unsafe. We will continue working alongside the community and other city departments to mitigate these challenges and hold the owner accountable.”

According to LAPD data, officers haven’t taken a single crime report at an abandoned building on Flores’ block this year. 

When asked why officers haven’t taken any crime reports at the property this year despite responding to more than 20 calls there, LAPD declined to comment. 

“Who does the police serve?” Flores asked. “Because in our neck of the woods, they don’t seem to serve us.”

Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson is Flores’ representative on the city council. Their district has 71 abatement buildings, one of the highest numbers in the city. 

Harris-Dawson declined an interview request for this story but sent the following statement: “Council District 8 is committed to addressing nuisance properties linked to criminal activity as part of our broader effort to disrupt human trafficking along Figueroa Boulevard. Through the work of a dedicated multi-agency task force, we have made progress in identifying problem locations.

“The Los Angeles Police Department has responded to this particular property more than 20 times, underscoring the urgency of the situation. While tackling the larger issue of human trafficking remains a priority, we also understand that the challenges facing individual neighborhoods are equally pressing and deserving of attention. A more balanced, dependable, and coordinated approach is essential to addressing these complex issues effectively. We are committed to ensuring that every community concern is treated with the seriousness it deserves as we work toward meaningful, long-term solutions.”

The Department of Building and Safety asked for a lien against the property in February after the city spent more than $10,000 on fencing and securing the property. The fence and home were both open and unsecured when Spectrum News 1 visited.

Building and Safety inspectors have issued 32 violations and fines at the home since 2016. But only one violation is currently open.

In October, inspectors said a violation for trash and debris at the property was closed, but piles of trash littered the front yard during a visit by Spectrum News in November.

(Spectrum News)

Gail Gaddi, a spokesperson for the Department of Building and Safety, said in a statement that abatement buildings are “monitored by LADBS until violations are mitigated by repairing the building for occupancy, or the building is demolished.”

The county assessor’s office said the home is owned by a trust. The beneficiaries of a trust aren’t typically public record, but people connected to the person the trust is named after didn’t respond to phone calls requesting comment for this story.

Gaddi said the Department of Building and Safety hasn’t been able to reach someone responsible for the property and is preparing a case to present to the department’s commission to demolish the home. 

A study by the University of Maryland published in 2019 found that streets where abandoned houses were demolished accounted for an overall lower percentage of crime in that neighborhood after the homes were razed.

Flores said he was homeless before a city program placed him in his apartment. After spending time sleeping on peoples’ couches, he’s grateful for a place to live but feels unsafe every day because of what’s next door.  

“Our livelihood is in danger,” Flores said.

Remembering his own time without a home, Flores said he feels for the people living in squalor next door and hopes city leaders can address the deeper issues that a fence can’t fix.