Caught On Camera: Venice Family Threatened With Violence By Man Allegedly Living In Encampment Across From Their Home

VENICE (CBSLA) - Some Venice residents are complaining that the boardwalk cleanup, showcased by city leaders as a response to the sometimes dangerous homeless encampments, has simply lead to the camps and the people who live in them moving.

One family's doorbell camera captured footage of a violent threat from a man allegedly living in a homeless encampment across the street from their home.

"I will kill your husband," a man can be seen saying in the video.

The family is now too worried to share their identities and say they are desperate for help.

"There are drug addicts and there's gang activity, there's shootings. We hear people screaming in the night. It's really scary," the family's mother said. "My daughter sees it every day. You wouldn't believe the things she's seen."

They say that a block long stretch has become an open-air crime den.

"I hear screaming. I hear...in the summertime, I'm sure if it's firecrackers or it's gunshots. I can't tell the difference between them and the sad thing is I don't want to be able to tell the difference as an 11-year-old," the family's daughter said.

As for her father, who was threatened by the man on their doorstep, he says they've reached out to any number of people for help.

"We've talked to city officials. We've talked to sanitation. We've talked to LAPD. We've talked to the sheriff's department. We've talked to everyone, and everyone has their hands tied and everyone refers us to someone else," he said.

The family has now turned to a former gang member, drug addict and ex-convict, Stan Muhammad, who runs a gang-intervention foundation that lately has been spending more and more time in homeless encampments.

"Underneath the housing and mental health is drug addiction, and if we can begin to have a real conversation about that, we will see that these human beings who have fallen from society need intentional outreach services from individuals who understand what it is that they may be suffering from.

The family did report the threat to the Los Angeles Police Department, who said they know the man and have had cases with him in the past, but that a third-party threat is not a crime.