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'We've Really Passed Tipping Point Of Danger' Says Rev. Andy Bales On The Homeless Crisis

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — In Los Angeles County alone, there are 41,000 transients living on the streets.

And for Rev. Andy Bales of the Union Rescue Mission, he says the homeless crisis has reached a breaking point.

"At this point, I'm very concerned about everyone in L.A. because we've really passed the tipping point of danger because we've left so many people for so many years to be devastated on the streets," he said.

The Los Angeles Police Department recently released new body cam video that shows an interaction between police and a transient armed with a knife in downtown Los Angeles.

In the clip, officers are seen reasoning with the transient in an effort to get him to drop his knife. Moments before, a woman inside the café described how the man had threatened to slice her throat.

Police eventually had to fire half a dozen rounds of non-lethal force as the man used a chair to block the bullets.

They managed to then grab the knife and take the man into custody. He was treated for an injury to his hand.

Earlier this month, another man who was believed to be homeless was taken into custody after he randomly punched two people, including Jack Osborne, at a Studio City café.

"It's ramping up," said Bales, who explained the homeless and mental health issue in Los Angeles has reached a breaking point.

"We've left far too many people for far too long on the streets: 41,000 in Los Angeles County alone. The longer you leave people on the streets, the more dangerous to the folks you leave on the streets, but what we don't realize is the more dangerous it is to everyone else," Bales said, adding that he has been hoping for a change of heart in Los Angeles about the crisis.

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