Mayor Karen Bass Thursday instructed the Los Angeles Police Department to stop issuing criminal citations to street vendors under the city’s anti-camping law, a decision that comes one day after it was reported police officers fined local sellers at MacArthur Park.
In a statement, the Mayor’s Office said Bass firmly stands with street vendors.
At the direction of the Mayor’s Office, the LAPD has stopped issuing citations to street vendors and the department is working to dismiss all criminal citations issued in error, with the goal of leaving street vendors with criminal records for working to provide for their families.
The Mayor’s Office instructed the LAPD to ensure these citations were not being issued to other street vendors across the city.
“The Mayor and her team will continue meeting with street vendors to implement policies and programs based on their needs. Street vending is a quintessential part of L.A.’s world-class food scene and a livelihood for thousands of hardworking Angelenos,” the statement read. “Supporting L.A.’s street vendors is more important than ever given ongoing attacks by ICE.”
Since taking office, Bass invested millions of dollars (including nearly $500,000 this fiscal year) into the Sidewalk Vending Cart program, a joint city and county of Los Angeles program to help street vendors establish or grow their businesses, according to the statement.
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Public Press reported that the LAPD has been issuing written warnings and citations to street vendors since 2025. Specifically, police officers have issued vendors around MacArthur Park with 41.18 citations, which advocates of street vending have said could result in criminal charges and deportation for some vendors.
A representative for the LAPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The city’s anti-camping law is also known as Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 41.18. The city has long had anti-loitering laws. In 2021, the City Council amended this section to ban encampments within 500 feet of sensitive locations such as public schools and libraries. It was later expanded to include daycare centers, parks, underpasses and areas near the Los Angeles River, among other places.
City Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez and Bass have implemented several measures to better maintain and improve public safety at MacArthur Park, with the funding of street cleaning teams, homelessness outreach, and other initiatives. Among these efforts, Bass, Hernandez and the LAPD were criticized for enacting a ban against street vendors from selling food and other items around the Westlake/MacArthur Park Metro Station. The city had installed a fence blocking access to the sidewalk, and it forced vendors to find new places to set up shop.
Naomi Roochnik, a spokeswoman for Hernandez, told the LA Public Press that the council office was aware of the LAPD’s citations, among other issues.
“We have raised serious concerns with LAPD and called on the department to immediately review and rectify its conduct, correct any misinformation distributed to vendors, and pursue a remedy of every citation that was improperly issued,” Roochnik told the LA Public Press.
In 2019, Senate Bill 946 or the Safe Sidewalk Vending Act became law. The law decriminalized street vending statewide by removing criminal penalties for unlicensed operation and limiting local regulations to administrative measures tied to public health, safety or welfare concerns.
Street vendors and three community organizations challenged the legality of a city ordinance that regulated street vending. The ordinance had created zones in which vendors were barred from selling their merchandise, such as near swap meets, farmers markets, schools and temporary events.
Both parties came to a settlement in 2022, in which the city repealed such zones and agreed to cancel all citations issued for vending in those exclusionary areas, and provide full refunds to vendors for any fines paid.
The focus on street vending comes a week after Bass was criticized for saying street vendors should not be allowed to sell food in front of restaurants during a mayoral debate hosted by the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association.
“Just like you shouldn’t have encampments in front of restaurants or in front of schools, you just should not do that,” Bass said in her remarks.
City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who is challenging Bass in the Nov. 3 election, criticized Bass for her comments. Raman later unveiled a plan to support street vendors across the city.
Raman described a proposal to create a so-called Immigrant Economic Opportunity Hub in which vendors can receive help with permits, micro-loans and legal assistance. Additionally, the councilwoman said she would propose special vending zones in L.A.’s vending corridors, but did not specify where they would be located.