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Los Angeles Police Department cited street vendors under anti-camping law that doesn't apply to them, exposing them to deportation

The Los Angeles Police Department issued written warnings and a criminal citation to street vendors near MacArthur Park under Municipal Code 41.18, an anti-camping ordinance, rather than the city's street-vending ordinance that actually governs them and does not restrict vending near parks. Street-vendor organizers, a city councilmember's office, and a civil-rights attorney said the anti-camping law does not apply to vendors at all, and LAPD declined to comment on its use of that code. A criminal citation, unlike the civil citation the vending ordinance authorizes, exposes vendors -- a population that includes noncitizens -- to prosecution and immigration consequences.

Jurisdiction
Los Angeles
Location
Los Angeles, California

Abuses documented

Actors

On July 1, 2026, Los Angeles Police Department officers issued written "traffic violation warnings" and a criminal citation to street vendors working near MacArthur Park, citing them under Municipal Code 41.18 -- an anti-camping ordinance -- rather than the city's actual street-vending ordinance, 42.13, which does not restrict vending within 500 feet of a park. LA Public Press, which later obtained copies of the citations through records requests, reported that LAPD had been using the anti-camping law against vendors in the area since at least 2025.

Street-vendor organizers, a spokesperson for City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, and a civil-rights attorney said 41.18 does not apply to street vendors at all. California's SB 946, which decriminalized street vending in 2019, bars cities from confining vendors to specific zones except for health, safety, or welfare reasons, and permits only civil penalties for vending violations -- unlike a 41.18 citation, which can be criminally prosecuted. LAPD declined to comment on its basis for using the anti-camping code, and also declined to say whether it had produced a "Know Your Rights" flyer bearing its own logo that asserted vendors near the park were violating 41.18.

A criminal citation, unlike the civil citations the vending ordinance actually authorizes, exposes affected vendors -- a population organizers describe as disproportionately immigrants, seniors, and women -- to prosecution and, for those undocumented, deportation. An attorney with Public Counsel said the mismatch was "completely outside" the law applicable to street vending, and organizers said the citations have discouraged vendors from appearing at required court dates out of fear of encountering federal immigration agents at courthouses.

Updates

2026-08-27 — Mayor Bass ordered LAPD to stop citing street vendors [2, 3]

One day after LA Public Press's report, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced she had directed the LAPD to stop issuing criminal citations to street vendors and to dismiss any such citations "issued in error." Bass's spokesperson said in a statement that police "stopped issuing criminal citations to street vendors and is working to dismiss all criminal citations issued in error, ensuring they are not left with criminal records for working to provide for their families." Community organizer Sergio Jimenez said he welcomed the dismissals but disputed the characterization that the citations were issued "in error," saying LAPD's own legal staff should have determined which ordinance applied before citing vendors under 41.18.

Why we recorded this

Equal protection requires government to enforce laws as written, not select whichever code carries the harshest consequence for a group it wants to burden. Los Angeles police cited street vendors under an anti-camping ordinance that officials, organizers, and a civil-rights attorney say does not govern vending at all, choosing a criminal charge -- with attendant deportation exposure -- over the civil penalty the actual vending ordinance provides. This archive records the mismatch because using the machinery of law enforcement to expose a targeted population to consequences the applicable law doesn't authorize is itself an abuse of that machinery, regardless of the underlying policy debate over vending in the area.

Sources

  1. LAPD is using LA's anti-camping law against MacArthur Park street vendors — LA Public Press investigative accessed September 10, 2026
  2. LA Mayor Karen Bass orders LAPD to stop giving street vendors criminal citations — LA Public Press primary accessed September 10, 2026
  3. Bass Calls on LAPD to Stop Issuing Street Vendors with Anti-Camping Citations — MyNewsLA investigative accessed September 10, 2026

See also