Fatima Davis had 15 suitcases on the corner of Fourth and Los Angeles streets. Photo courtesy Los Angeles Police Department.

But, on Oct. 31, LAPD officers brought Davis into Central Division headquarters for violating some of the city's most controversial laws regarding homeless people.

Police said they had repeatedly warned Davis about breaking the new street-sleeping law. They finally arrested and charged her with illegal lodging, meaning her luggage had become more of a residence than an encampment.

Although an outreach worker assisting the LAPD located a free bed, Davis refused to go to a shelter. "They steal from you there," she protested. She also refused to go to a single room occupancy apartment that a social worker had found. "Unless I'm paying for the rent myself, I don't want to stay there," she said.

Davis said she had a daughter in the area who she could stay with, and after an hour, officers tracked her down. But the daughter was in a tight situation; she faced eviction for late rent in her $750-a-month apartment in a building on Broadway. She couldn't ask her building manager to allow another guest, especially one with 15 suitcases.

Davis' case is an example of the quandaries police and service providers face in the efforts to help homeless people get into shelters and stay out of the jails. Even when beds are available they meet resistance from people who only seem to trust the streets.



"I think it was unjust," Davis said about her arrest. "They didn't have a reason to take me in. The whole Skid Row is on the sidewalk. Either they take all or none, that's how I feel."

While handcuffed to a bench in the back of the station, Davis recounted how she and her daughter came to Los Angeles from Kansas. They shared a tent on Skid Row for a while, until her daughter enrolled in a two-year program at the Weingart Center and received training in custodial work.

When her daughter found an apartment, Davis preferred to stay on the streets. Her daughter would bring her meals. "I don't like to push all these suitcases around everywhere to go get food," she said.

The suitcases are Davis' major dilemma. With the money she makes panhandling, Davis buys luggage, and then fills it with clothing handouts from local churches.





When Davis' daughter arrived at the station, the police finally settled upon a solution. Davis grudgingly agreed to spend two nights in the courtyard of the Midnight Mission. Then her daughter, once she pays the rent, will bring her mother home. The catch is that Davis can only bring one suitcase. The rest of her luggage will be stored at a warehouse at Seventh and Central streets.

Four police officers helped Davis retrieve her belongings out of an immense, malodorous pile that sits in the back of a patrol truck in the station's garage. An officer wore gloves as he sifted through coats and backpacks, trying to find the light blue suitcase that Davis will take to the Mission.