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Officials Looking To Avoid A 'Skid Row' In Anaheim

ANAHEIM (CBSLA.com) — The riverbed in Anaheim will not be a Skid Row for the homeless much longer.

That's the message the Orange County Board of Supervisors plans to send when they meet Tuesday. For the first time they will vote to bring in law enforcement to put an end to it.

"The Orange County Board of Supervisors is going to close the riverbed to the homeless," supervisor Todd Spitzer said.  "All those people who are presently engaged in criminal activity, sale and distribution of drugs, human trafficking, prostitution, whatever, are going to vacate."

Frustrated by what has turned into a tent city along the riverbed in Anaheim, supervisor Spitzer says, if the vote is approved, they will have sheriff's deputies crack down on crimes and clear homeless from the area. This after the board received a petition with 11,000 signatures from homeowners asking that something be done about the homeless problem.

"We've done everything in our power to approach this from a humane point of view and a compassionate point of view," Spitzer said.

The homeless will have the option to stay in Orange County armories that will be opened as early as October.

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