Security measures for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games could displace nearly 6,000 people experiencing homelessness, according to a joint UCLA and University of Southern California report released Wednesday.

People experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County – excluding Glendale, Long Beach and Pasadena – could be affected by security perimeters if they are drawn within a mile radius of Olympic venues, according to the report. Federal agents would likely monitor the perimeters and control access, said Patrick Babajanian, the chair of the North Westwood Neighborhood Council’s ad hoc Olympics and Paralympics Committee.

The study’s estimate does not account for other Olympics-related infrastructure, including transit hubs and tourist destinations – as well as UCLA’s and USC’s campuses, which will function as the Olympic and Media Villages, respectively.

Up to 150 people experiencing homelessness in Westwood Village could be affected by Olympic preparations, said Randall Kuhn, a community health sciences professor at the Fielding School of Public Health who led the report’s study. Security perimeters could intensify pressure for the city to remove visible signs of homelessness, according to the report.

“There are many, many opportunities, even now, even with only 21 months left, to do better,” Kuhn said. “On the one hand, there’s never been an Olympics in a place with a crisis like this going on, but there’s also never been an Olympics in a place that’s been thinking about how to do better on this issue for such a long time.”

Researchers published the Periodic Assessment of Trajectories of Housing, Homelessness and Health Study report to inform LA’s response to housing insecurity leading up to the Olympics and make policy recommendations.

The report recommends that the city expand access to permanent housing without relying on new construction, improve processes for transferring people from encampments to permanent housing and create designated encampment sites, said Jessie Chien, the study’s research manager.

A spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass’ office said in an emailed statement that Bass believes efforts to move people off the streets should be followed with providing mental health support and programs for permanent housing.

“Street homelessness has gone down 11% under Mayor Bass and she will continue those efforts until every person is inside,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “That is work that would happen with or without the Games in Los Angeles.”

Kuhn said he hopes the Olympics motivate long-term, housing-based solutions rather than widespread displacement. Sweeping encampments and relocating people experiencing homelessness can negatively affect their health and separate them from their community, he added.

“That’s why we made the website,” Kuhn said. “We want to monitor to make sure mass harms aren’t being carried out, but the real reason we set it up is because we think there’s a chance to actually be part of a positive solution.”

Chien said she plans to publicize an official count of people experiencing homelessness who will be impacted by preparations near the Olympic Village as they receive more information from the city.

“We’re trying to uplift the actual voices of people who have experiences being unsheltered,” she said.

Andrew Lewis, chair of the North Westwood Neighborhood Council’s Community Health, Homelessness, and Safety Committee, said the committee wants the city to implement permanent housing solutions in Westwood ahead of the Games.

PATHS hopes to send surveys about expectations and concerns for the 2028 Olympic Games this winter, Chien said.

“The Olympics and the Paralympics are temporary, and those shouldn’t be an excuse to band-aid over some of these long-term issues,” Babajanian said. “Anything that is done should be done humanely.”