0:00 You guys are looking at the logo of Ghost Town Consultants. Do you know anything about them? >> Uh Ghost Town Consultants. >> They formed because of Venice Beach residents and business owners. They needed their own private unarmed patrol group. Uh and this group is made of former gang members. And they're out there to do the dirty work and clean up the streets because the city is super failed them. >> Homeboy? >> No, way different. >> The whole So Homeboy Industries, it's like guys I got out of jail or formally in like crime ridden like crime ridden lives and now that they rehabilitate them and put them back into society. >> They make salsa. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> Yeah, yeah, they make chips and salsa. >> This one I read about. So like imagine living in Venice, you live in a a nice
0:50 neighborhood and you have crazy homelessness and you call the cops a million times, you call private security million times and no one is down to do anything cuz they have also crazy red tape, right? So they can't just like like like let's say if a police guy is escorting homeless guy out, then someone recording from video in the lens of California that would be labeled as attack on someone with mental health problems. Like you know, like there's so much like PR issues. So they created this group that's former gangsters and people that understand the streets so they could pretty much legally and socially kick people's asses and be okay with it. >> So it's a legal protection racket. >> That's what I was going to say. Yeah, it feels like a protection racket. But let me give you the details. So Ghost Town, they currently have over 350 clients now. >> Oh, wow. So that's a demand.
1:40 >> There's a ton of demand and it's it's for property security against homeless people specifically. So they're basically they're to clear out the encampments. It costs $100 to $300 a month to be a client. And then if you are a client, they'll do regular check-ups, update you, and then they'll have rapid response available 24 hours. So, if something's going on at night, middle of the night, they can come out. The founders are two dudes. One guy is a guy whose family has lived in Venice since the 1930s. And another guy is a former Oakwood gang member. And they currently have a staff of around 12 people. And they don't just move homeless people to the next block. What they try to do is they try to encourage them into like programs. They try to You know, like the the one of the main things is that homeless people never go
2:30 >> What's encourage though? Like encourage them into programs? >> [laughter] >> I got a program for you. It's called Raw, dude. IT'S CALLED WWE NITRO. >> [laughter] >> YOU heard of the people's elbow? >> Yeah. It's weird because like a lot of people don't understand that like one of the main reasons there's so many homeless people out is cuz they don't want to go live in a lot of the time. Not all the time, but sometimes they just they just like where they are. And so like they try to encourage them into those programs, and they actually offer them food or water in order for exchanges of like different services and tolerances. And and although, you know, critics are complaining that they're just displacing them instead of actually helping them. Um they have done a very very very good job cuz they leave these signs everywhere that their clients have signed up. >> Oh, sick. It's like ADT. >> Yeah, exactly. So, now the local homeless people know that if they're
3:20 hanging around one of these signs, eventually they're going to come >> to go to a shelter. >> A cholo's going to come and ████ you up. >> Cholo's going to Yeah, ████ you up. >> [laughter] >> Cholo's going to encourage you. >> lecturing like >> What if he's just literally sitting there and then the homeless guy's like, "I can't take this lecturing anymore. I'm so annoyed." Yeah. >> I was like you once, and it's like, "Okay, fine. I'm I tap out. I'm not I'm leaving." >> Yeah. Right. All right. Isn't that crazy how similar it is to old school protection rackets? >> Yeah. >> You mean like peacemakers? >> Yeah. >> Who's paying peacemakers? >> Then we weren't protection. We were starting trouble. When I was in Venice, um cuz you know, >> [clears throat] >> homeless people in Venice, it's almost like pigeons in downtown. You got to have them. Or else it's not Venice anymore, you know, it's just the vibe is different. But we were out there early in the morning we're some like filming some skit and then this homeless guy pops up and then HE STARTS GOING, "HEY! ████ YOU!"
4:11 AND then people are like, "F███ you!" And he goes, "Why you telling me ████ you?" >> They had accents, too. >> Yeah. He's like, "Why you telling me ████ you?" He goes, "That's how I say good morning." And then this other homeless guy was like, "Well, ████ you, too!" And he goes, "I'll ████ you!" And he just kept going AROUND SAYING, "F███ YOU!" >> QUIET ON SET! QUIET ON ████ SET. I WISH YOU'D SHUT THE ████ UP. They're just nuts over there, dude. >> I love immediately getting offended, though. If somebody goes, "F███ you," you're like, "Hey, ████ YOU, MAN." >> [laughter] >> "WHY YOU TELLING ME ████ YOU?" I'M LIKE, "YOU'RE THE ONE THAT SAID ████ YOU." >> That's how I say good morning. >> [laughter] >> This ████ ████ works, though, cuz you know, like Jill's mom's house is in East LA and it's her street is right next to alley homeless-ridden like a ████ There's at least three or four homeless dudes at the minimum at
5:01 any time. And we had like a children's like birthday party in the front yard and you could hear a racket going in the alley. Like ████ shopping carts, trash, ████ people coming and just dumping ████ And then you know the kids are going to go out to play, so it's unsafe over there. And I'm like, "F███. What do I do?" I'm like, "The only way I know how is probably go there and like intimidation or some ████ like that." And because I don't speak the language of the streets, Jill's other family on the other hand, they're cholos from those streets. So, one of the >> drive. >> One of the what? >> little tricky. >> Oh, I thought they can't drive. My bad. >> What do you mean? Jill's family? >> No, some of them don't drive. >> Oh. >> No, some of them don't drive. >> None of the cholos have licenses? >> No, no, some of them don't drive. No, but this dude >> Non-driving gangsters? >> But this cholo, he drives. >> But but it's irrelevant to the story. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. This one has a driver's license. But this guy, he speaks the language of the streets. So
5:52 he just goes around cuz he could tell that I'm getting riled up and the only way I understand is through force. He goes over there and he goes, "Hey, everybody listen up. Each person that cleans up this alleyway gets five bucks." All the homeless people immediately starts I don't know where the brooms come from, whatever. They just start sweeping. They move the shopping cart. They move all the recycle recycle bags and they all just scatter. And he just gives all of them five bucks. So if you have people from the streets and they understand, they know how to finesse the way and speak their language. And just through 20 bucks, not only did they all leave peacefully, they were on good rapport. Cuz if I would have done it through intimidation or if I had to ████ someone up, they're going to be like, "Oh, I remember this house." >> So this is a racket. But it works. >> But it's kind of like protection money, like >> Yeah, cuz if they're paying a 100 to 300 bucks a month, but they could have just walked out and be like, "Hey, I'll give you five bucks, you go away for a
6:42 month." >> But they're not always there. That's the thing. >> Like some Silicon Valley guy that's like, "I'm moving to Venice cuz it's so beautiful." You don't speak the language of the streets. >> Yeah, you don't know what to do. >> You don't speak the language of the streets. >> Yeah, they're like, "Ew, riffraff." >> Yeah, you're like, "I don't know what to do." >> Riffraff. Street rat. >> That's still cheaper than what protection rackets used to demand from people, though. >> Yeah. You had to pay like 20% of your income. >> Yeah, 100 to 300 is nothing compared to protection rackets. >> But it sucks that you even have to pay this. >> Yeah, [laughter] what? >> Cuz you got HOA fees already. >> Adding 100 to 300 on your bottom line to just make sure homeless people aren't around is crazy. >> It's crazy cuz it's worth it. >> Yeah. >> But also, isn't it Don't we already pay like if pro if you own property, right? >> Doesn't a portion of that go to policing? And it's like, "What the ████ are they doing?" >> The frustrating part that stuff like
7:32 this exists cuz of supply and demand and cuz the demand for police is way higher than what we can get. >> of you who don't live in major cities, like the idea of a homeless person being a nuisance isn't just that they exist there, it's that you may have broken windows, you might have a broken door, you might have a human ████ on your front porch, you might have piss everywhere. >> You might be in your backyard jacking off. >> It's not the annoyance that he's just there. It's very rarely the case that someone's just there existing. >> Yeah, they bring the drugs, they bring the theft, they might even bring drama. So, if a guy like did some other crime on another street and now they come over, there could be a drive-by on your street cuz the guy's trying to smoke this guy and he goes, "Oh, he's just so happen to be on your street now." >> Look who speaks the language now. >> That's also on the chance that you won't get assaulted violently. That's that's also a risk, too. >> I think that being in LA though, like it is a a crazy different level of like cuz
8:24 like now that I live in Hawaii and Vegas, like the homeless is different. Like most people, I think it's like, "Oh yeah, they're just down and out." And then, you know, you give them a couple bucks. They're still kind of like on a human level, but LA, they're almost like you don't know if they think you're the devil and they're trying to kill you. >> Yeah. >> Like they'll start swinging at you. You don't know what's going to, you know, so it's like I think when people think about homeless people, they're thinking about their local ones, not the ones that we went through in LA. >> They're not these endearing characters that are fixtures of your neighborhood. >> They're not like the bird lady in Home Alone 2. >> I wish they were, but no, they're not. >> Turtle doves, Kevin. Turtle doves. [laughter] What happens if you don't pay these cats? Do they Is it a different different experience? >> They're not going to take you to the rooftop of an opera concert. [laughter] >> Then the homeless guys will probably be all over your house. >> Let me Let me just say that I've been paying Ghost Town and I'm a little late
9:15 this month. Is it even worse cuz I got homeless people and I got Ghost Town on my ass? >> Oh, you think the Ghost Town's going to come at you for not paying? >> know. How does it work if I don't pay? >> shaking you down. >> They'll probably just cut services. >> Yeah, I don't think they're shaking you down. >> Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. >> No, it's like if you stop paying them, then you have 10 homeless people in your front yard and you're >> where they drop them off. They will What they want to remind you. >> Pay for the sign like ADT. >> Yeah, [laughter] that's funny. >> Cuz when I was living in Glendora, we had a crazy homeless problem, right? And then I would ask the police officer who lived literally down the street and he's like, "There's nothing I can do." He's like, "I don't want to get caught in any drama." And then every morning when we wake up, there would be new ████ on our front lawn. And the tykes are like, "Oh, what's that?" I was like, "Oh, that's actually human caca. That's human caca." >> told him that? That's funny. >> I was like, "That's human caca." >> All I know is that if I'm in a business park and business next to me pays for their protection, business next to me pays for their protection.
10:06 >> not going to pay for protection. You probably don't need it. Right? >> Yeah. >> But then if I suddenly see only homeless people chilling right here, >> What if they're like in your front lawn having tea? >> I'm >> Just hanging out cuz you didn't pay the protection. >> So they're going to send them. >> That's how they make money. >> You know what I do? I throw a job fair. >> That's what I'm saying. >> Oh, that's good. >> They're going to send the homeless people to my spot, right? Remind me that I need their protection, right? >> And I would throw a job fair immediately. I'll put a job fair in my front lawn and they're all going to scatter. >> [laughter] >> Just some stupid >> a big booth. >> CAREER. >> OH GOD, NO, NO, NO, NO. NO, NO, BE QUIET. NO, get ████ out of here. >> Cuz I've seen those videos where they do go up to like homeless cabinets and they offer five bucks and they give them plastic bags and they're like, "Just clean the street." And there's still a lot of them that are like, >> [laughter] >> They don't even want to do that, dude.
10:57 Yeah, it's crazy. >> So you job fair's the move? >> Yeah, job fair would be a pretty good move. >> [laughter] >> Neighbors and friends. >> Every single place that they have there's >> the ghost town. There's also a pop-up job fair. >> Pop-up job fair. >> Also, Venice homeless are are are pretty different, too. The same way that SF homeless is different from LA homeless, Venice is a different They're like very comfortable. Like they've been there a long time. >> I saw this one guy, he just started swinging in the crowd. You know how there's a lot of tourists that likes watching the people dance and the silver guy and all that. And he just started swinging like a turbine. And everyone was like, "OH MY GOD!" AND HE WAS JUST TRYING to fight the whole like air. >> You've done a ton of content on Venice, you know. >> I remember roller skates guitar guy. That guy started shaking people down eventually for money cuz he got famous off being and everybody He was in my videos, he's in Casson's videos, he's in everybody's videos. And so people started going up to him and trying to get He became like He's like a local
11:48 icon. He already was, but then it really spread. >> He's like naked cowboy in New York. >> Exactly. And then he started like shaking people down for money almost like like the carnies at Hollywood Highland, like the Batman guy and stuff. It became a real problem. >> Ooh. That's funny what you did to the Spider-Man guys in Hollywood Highland. >> I owned I owned Spider-Man for a whole day, dude. >> Do you guys remember what Steve did? So you know how they have those Spider-Man guys that that go on Hollywood Highland asking people for money for photos? This fool freaking hired on Craigslist like a like 30 Spider-Man guys. >> 50 Spider-Man. >> [laughter] >> And and I I I I I warned >> the market? >> I flooded the market and [laughter] the the Spider-Man were so pissed. >> THEY'RE ALL LIKE FREE PHOTOS, FREE PHOTOS. >> [laughter] >> AND I WAS LIKE AND THEN I I walked up to the Transformers guy and I was like, I did this to I did this with Spider-Man. Imagine where I when I do it to you,
12:38 Bumblebee. >> They're like, "No." >> like, "I own Spider-Man. I am I own ████ Hollywood Highland and all this s███." And they were getting so pissed. >> They got so pissed. They were taking their hat They were taking their heads off and just like being mad, bro. It was crazy. >> Yeah, they were so mad. >> They're not going to eat that day cuz of you, Steve. >> But the best thing is that his guys, his 50 Spider-Man he hired, were so energetic and so like it looked so fun. >> They were doing all this ████ And like you know how like these these guys are carnies and they've been out there for a long time. They're probably really hot and they have backpacks and heavy They're carrying around their whole life. Like so they they take a picture with you and it's just like But my Spideys are going like ████ all >> [laughter] >> ████ cuz they're like enthusiastic. >> They're All of Hollywood Highland was filled with Spider-Mans. >> Fresh energy. [laughter] >> This is >> And dude, probably also like on Actors Access, I guarantee that day people like, "Where the ████ is everybody? How come there's not like a bunch of people auditioning today?
13:28 >> Cuz I took like 50 people out of that ████ pool and put them in Spider-Man costumes. >> How much did you pay these guys? >> like 50 bucks each or something or 25 bucks each or something like that. >> Damn. >> They were cool. And I was like, "Hey, come get 50 bucks for like 2 hours. You got to wear a Spider-Man costume." And they're like people like, "F███ yeah." >> Is it their own Spider-Man costume? >> No, I had to buy all of them. >> Cuz you had the exact [laughter] same like Amazing Spider-Man >> if everyone brought different Spider-Man costumes. It's like uniformly needs to look the same way. >> Yeah, the exact Amazing Spider-Man like one. >> That's ████ awesome. >> Yeah, it was sick. And they were getting so pissed. And I was like, "Dude, I I will own this street." Like I was warning all the carnies like, "I will own you. Don't make me come back here." kind of ████ >> Imagine if you would you did a security thing like that, but they were all Spider-Man. >> [laughter] >> I think they would just get wrecked. If If I had to ask those guys to fight, it would have been rough. >> [laughter] >> You would have a bunch of little kids
14:18 seeing Spider-Man get merked out there.
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