During the Long Beach City Council’s meeting on Tuesday, June 15 council members unanimously decided to begin developing a program to protect street vendors.
“We must protect these members of our community from robbery and physical attacks that have risen against them in recent years, and [in] the past year,” Councilmember Suely Saro said. “We should support these vulnerable workers who are trying to make an honest living and support their families.”
The item sets out to prevent vendor harassment before it can occur, while supporting the economic development of vendors in the city.
This proposed program comes after multiple videos showing Long Beach street vendors being attacked or harassed have been widely shared online and in the media.
“Instances of robbery, assault and harassment towards our street vendors are not new,” Councilmember Mary Zendejas said. “What has changed is more of these cases are being recorded and shared on social media, and that has helped encourage more street vendors to make police reports when otherwise they would not do so.”
The council recommendation mentions that, due to the nature of their business, the tendency of street vendors to carry cash on them makes them a target for robberies.
Jessica Quintana of Centro CHA reminded the council that vendors should have a say in the type of payment they receive.
“It’s important that, as we look at this initiative and start the discussion, that the vendors are included in the discussion, and when we’re talking about their carts, and cash, and money, making sure that we’re listening to them and what’s going to work for them,” Quintana said.
According to the proposal, helping vendors access the technology needed to accept different forms of payment, such as credit and debit cards or online payments, may make them less vulnerable to thieves.
Similarly, potential signs that state the vendor does not carry cash could demotivate anyone hoping to rob them.
Other suggested safety strategies in the proposal include using funds from the Long Beach Recovery Act to help vendors purchase security cameras, and to compile a summary of City and State street vending laws.
Long Beach isn’t the only area in the region where street vendors have been targeted by criminals. The Los Angeles Police Department reported that crimes against street vendors have increased by nearly 337% between 2010 and 2019.
According to the data, nearly 45% of the recorded crimes against street vendors were robberies and 28% of them involved some type of physical assault.
Nearly a year ago, community members marched to Long Beach City Hall in protest after a security camera recorded local street vendor Bililfo Fernandez being attacked and robbed at gunpoint by two male suspects on June 29, 2020.
The attack put Fernandez in the hospital for two days, and left noticeable lacerations on his nose and face.
“What I want is for the men who assaulted me to be apprehended,” Fernandez said in Spanish on July 2, 2020 during the protest held on his behalf. “This time around it happened to me, but tomorrow it can happen to others […] I don’t want others to suffer and go through what I went through […] I’m alive by a miracle.”
Two male suspects attacked and robbed Gerardo Ivan Olmeda Del Pilar on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021 as he was trying to sell fruit, leaving his face and shirt visibly bloodied in a video taken by a bystander that stopped to help him afterwards.
Most recently, on May 24, 2021, two vendors, Jose Euguenio Vivanco Bruno and Eliu Ramirez, were attacked and harassed by a female adult and four children.
The group destroyed Ramirez’s wares, snatching them off his cart and tossing the items to the ground.
When police were called to the scene, they ticketed the two street vendors with $900 citations each for not having licenses to sell food. The adult female was cited for vandalism, according to a statement by the Long Beach Police Department.
“This has been ongoing for a very long time because vendors don’t come forward,” Quintana said. “They fear for their status, and [they fear] police in the local government. They won’t go through with testifying against perpetrators who have assaulted them.”
After the story gained media attention and public outcry, the LBPD redacted the tickets.
“This is against our Department’s practice and the citations will be voided. Department employees will be reminded of this to ensure there is no confusion with our officers regarding this practice,” an LBPD statement said.
The proposed strategies in the recommendation include informing vendors of ways they can safely report crimes against them to authorities, the rights undocumented immigrants have when speaking to LBPD, and the protections they are given under the Long Beach Values Act.
After each publicized attack on street vendors in Long Beach, the community has stepped up to show support.
In the cases of Fernandez and Olmeda Del Pilar, GoFundMe pages were set up that quickly helped them regain and even surpass the amount of money that was stolen from them.
The Local Hearts Foundation also held a buy-out event for Bruno and Ramirez, where community members lined up to buy snacks and beverages from them as a show of support.
Tito Rodriguez, one of the founders of the Local Hearts Foundation, has been advocating for local politicians to take action in protecting street vendors.
“We now need our politicians to step up and help create some laws to protect our street vendors,” Rodriguez wrote on an Instagram post on May 26.
The proposal to create a program to protect street vendors was brought to the City Council by Saro, Zendejas, Councilmember Cindy Allen and Vice Mayor Rex Richardson.
The city manager will now have 60 days to collaborate with all relevant City departments and report back to the City Council with the plans for a program to keep street vendors in Long Beach safe.
“I’m asking you guys to please, please, do something for our vendors. Out of all the vendors I’ve spoken to, they all want to pay, you know, their fair share in taxes, they all want to get [permits], they all want to get licensed,” Rodriguez said. “They just want to go out there and make an honest living. And with your guys’ support and protection it would make things a lot easier for them.”
