Fifty officers were hired for the Safer Cities Initiative Task Force,[3] which focused on an area less than 1 sq mi (2.6 km2).
Some evidence suggested a gradual downward trend in property and violent crime in Skid Row that could be attributed to the SCI.
"[1] The Los Angeles Community Action Network called for an end to the Initiative in 2010 with petitions and a report, saying that it resulted in human rights violations for residents of Skid Row, many of whom expressed that they did not feel safe from police violence and harassment.
[6][7] Sociologist Alex S. Vitale criticized the SCI and said it should not be replicated in other cities due to its failure to reduce homelessness prevalence, its high cost, and its modest effect on crime reduction.
[5] Skid Row residents became "copwise" through their numerous interactions with law enforcement via the SCI, becoming more skillful at avoiding officers' attention.
Resistance strategies against some of these policing tactics eventually resulted in a legal injunction that prevented routine confiscation of property by law enforcement.