Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt is taking a hard line on the city’s homelessness, laying out a “get help or get out” approach prioritizing intervention over free needles and pipes.
In a blunt interview on his ”The Fame Game” YouTube series Thursday with Fox11 reporter Matthew Seedorff, Pratt argued the city has allowed lawlessness and open-air drug use to spiral out of control, particularly in areas like Skid Row.
“If I do what some of these people do, Spencer Pratt’s getting 5150’d,” he said, invoking California’s involuntary psychiatric hold law.
“Brittany Spears got 5150’d, and I can take you down Skid Row as there’s 1,000 worse than Brittany Spears.”
Pratt said his administration would ensure public sidewalks were not permanent encampments.
When Seedorff asked, “so you’re saying you either agree to get help, or you can’t be homeless in this spot,” Pratt didn’t hesitate.
“100 percent,” he replied, adding that “the streets are not just for people to live with fentanyl needles.”
A key pillar would also be ending city-funded harm-reduction programs that see the distribution of clean needles and pipes.
“My police will arrest you if you’re handing paraphernalia to drug addicts. So, that’s done.”
Pratt also vowed to turn Skid Row into “the hardest place to sell drugs in LA,” mocking the idea that dealers can cruise in on “Tesla’s and Escalade’s” to do business.
While specific enforcement mechanisms remain to be fully detailed, the implication is clear: persistent refusal of aid will mean individuals cannot remain on the streets.