Last week, Fox 11 LA did two stories on homelessness in Sherman Oaks and how that is impacting local businesses. As promised, last night they published a third report interviewing another local business owner. When Fox 11 showed up at the Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill so did a homeless woman who has previously harassed employees and customers. Angela Marsden, who owns the bar, was clearly fed up. “People are afraid to come out. They’re afraid to spend their money here. They’re afraid to come here,” she said.

What followed was another glimpse into how cities up and down the west coast now operate. The homeless woman was asked to leave but refused. Finally, Marsden called the police. About 20 minutes later two LAPD cops did show up and attempted to talk to her. She initially agrees to leave her stolen shopping cart behind and move on but then she became belligerent and started in on the officers.

Ultimately, the police had to give up and walk away. By the time they did it was dark outside. It’s hard to tell exactly how long it had been but you get the impression the police were engaged with this woman for at least half an hour, maybe more. Ultimately she wasn’t violent so they couldn’t arrest her. Afterwards, one of the officers said he was not authorized to make a statement on behalf of the LAPD. “I’ll say you can see the frustration on my face and we’ll just leave it there,” he said. He’s frustrated not just with the homeless woman but with the waste of his time.

How many hours a day do cops and firefighters spend dealing with homeless people in LA County? It’s probably one of the most frequent things they do. The frustration doesn’t build up from one experience like this. It builds from doing this day after day, sometimes even with the same people.

Even if the unnamed homeless woman in this clip had given the police an excuse to arrest her, she’d likely be out within a matter of hours, either with a citation she would never pay or a court date she would never make. I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to conclude this woman probably has some combination of drug problems and mental problems. And a brief arrest isn’t going to do anything to change her behavior. It’s all just a waste of time and she’s got all the time in the world.

Tomorrow or the next day she’ll be back, harassing employees and shouting at customers of the Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill. No one wants to go to a pub for some relaxation only to be shouted at by a street person. So over time people will stop coming back. It takes a lot of effort and order to keep a small business running but not a lot of chaos to start it down the road to failure.

At some point this reporter is going to move on to other stories or other parts of LA County. Part of me wishes she wouldn’t. If she could just keep these reports going for another 2-3 weeks, talking to one business owner after another, maybe local leaders would be shamed into doing something. But I suspect the moment Fox 11 moves on the LA Councilwoman who represents this area will breath a sigh of relief and go back to studiously ignoring the problems her constituents are facing.