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Monday, May 21, 2012
Police Raid SafeGround in Search of Illegal Sleeping Bag and Tents
by Justin Wandro, published on September 2, 2009 at 3:11 PM
Storyline: Sacramento's Anti Camping Ordinance
Early this morning Sacramento City Police descended upon the small SafeGround campsite in downtown Sacramento. They came with half a dozen squad cars, a dozen officers, the paddy wagon, and a search warrant. They announced the site was a crime scene forced everyone to leave and taped off the site while they searched the premises for evidence of illegal camping. They then proceeded to take down and bag all the tents and sleeping bags as evidence of the crime, dumping peoples personal belongings in the dirt. After 3 hours of bagging and even the CSI unit taking pictures they hauled off the “evidence” and let the residents back in to gather their stuff out of the dirt.
The SafeGround residents, who are onsite with the permission of the property owner, now don’t even have the little shelter a tent provides. This is not the first time that police have raided and forced people out of encampments, in fact it seems to be becoming quite common. It happened on North D Street, it happened at the now infamous Tent City, and on a smaller scale at numerous other locations.
So why this repeating cycle? Why do these camp sites continue to pop up? The answer is simple, there simply isn’t enough transitional housing and emergency shelter for all of the people who are homeless in Sacramento. Yet despite this, City Officials continue to enforce the ridiculous Anti Camping ordinance, which states that it is illegal for anyone to camp anywhere (even private property where the owner gives permission) for more than one night.
Now I have compassion for any local business owners or residents who live within the area. Sure, they have a right to reasonable peace and quiet. Sure they have a right to not be distrubed at night. Just as I do. But that's the thing, this SafeGround site hasn't been loud and disruptive. In fact it's rather organized and quiet. There is an agreement they all sign stating no drugs or alchohol and they police themselves if anyone gets too rowdy or violates the agreement.
I can't help but wonder how much money and resources the City of Sacramento has spent enforcing this anti-camping ordinance. I can tell you that this morning their were at least twelve uniformed officers, seven squad cars, two trucks, and a CSI unit. They were onsite for about three hours and I'm sure many more were spent planning the day. How much tax payer money has been spent? How much money that could have gone towards more productive things like emergency shelter and transitional housing?
Sacramento needs more transitional housing, more emergency shelter, and yes, a moratorium on the anti-camping ordinance so that people who can’t get into shelter or housing can have a safe place to sleep at night. We are in the middle of deep economic recession and have over 1200 people sleeping on the streets every single night who can’t get into shelter. Come on! Let’s have a little compassion and let people who have hit bottom at least get a good nights sleep.
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The police declared the site a crime scene. (How ghastly, people were sleeping in tents and sleeping bags) Thus were able to make everyone leave. However, after they had taken what evidence they wanted everyone was allowed to go back onto the site.
The City of Sacramento was going to pay these officers weather they broke up this camp or sweep K Street for bums and gangs, I'm glad they chose to enforce the anti-camping ordinance.
Next on the list, sweep K Street for gang bangers, bums, and others that cause the public to avoid that stretch of street whenever possible.
This particular episode has the added ugliness in that the vacant lot's owner, Mark Merin, has been in a property line dispute with the elderly homeowner next door. Marin, a serial litigator, has set up the illegal campground on his property in an effort to cause harm to his neighbor. It's telling that Merin has made significant amounts of income from filing bogus lawsuits on behalf of the homeless.
What will be the ultimate result of this pathetic episode? NO homeless will have found permanent housing. Those who see the homeless as shiftless bums will see their positions hardened, and efforts at placing permanent supportive housing units at potential sites throughout the city will be met with greater suspicion. But hey....the homeless advocates can still claim that they are better than you because the care about the homeless. Remember that the next time Sister Libby asks for a donation or grant for Loaves and Fishes.
It's the same dynamic that takes place with any of the other homeless services Salvation Army, Union Gospel Mission, Loaves & Fishes. Each of these organizations take in people who are homeless either at night or during the day and give them a safe place with resources for them to go. When one of these places is closed for a day literally hundreds of people are out on the street, and yes because they have no place to go some end up in front of local business or on the rive banks.
It is the homeless service organizations, and SafeGround, that keep people off the streets and in a place where they can be safe and obtain the help they need.
I think I understand what your getting at. No one wants to walk around a vibrant downtown and run into someone who hasn't showered in days or looks unsightly at every corner. It's an uncomfortable thing to encounter someone who is suffering. I don't think anybody is advocating to have people who are homeless camp out or sleep in the doorways of peoples business or homes. That would be terrible for business and our city, but above that it would be humiliating for the people doing the sleeping.
The SafeGround site in question is not in the middle of downtown and it isn't highly visible. In fact effort seems to be put into keeping a very low profile, until the police show up, and of course the television crews behind them. The idea behind a SafeGround site is to give people who have no other options a place to sleep at night other than on the street or in a business doorway.
Again, Oracle, I agree with you. I don't want people to be sleeping on the streets downtown or in front of businesses. I hate seeing people suffer. I hate seeing people who are down and out forced to beg. That's a life I wish upon no one. But I also don't just want to sweep them under the rug and make them invisible. So, it seems to me something like the SafeGround in question just might be a first step that starts the long process of restoring dignity for these human beings and restoring the image of our city.
I apologize. I didn't mean to insult anybody. Especially the Irish, since I have good deal of Irish in me. I was unaware that paddy wagon was an insult, but now I know and I will in the future use the more accurate "police van".
This homeowner who is actually trying to better a very troubled neighborhood has had 'outhouses' emptied in his yard, all manner of trash and the whole smells to high heaven.
The test is when all these homeless advocates show true charity by opening their homes to the homeless instead of dumping them in the closest neighborhood to Loaves and Fishes, then they will have some standing to say the city is not doing enough. The city and county are spending tens of millions of dollars every year on the homeless. The reason none of these efforts have born fruit is that the homeless advocates have said it is okay to be homeless; it is okay to defecate in a persons yard. I suspect they will next say being homeless is a disease for which the homeless have no control.
http://www.communitycouncil.org/homelessplan/progress.html
And there are more housing units on the way. Neighbors near the old Budget Inn on Stockton Blvd., after initially being concerned that having a homeless housing site in their neighborhood would be too disruptive, have endorse it. I imagine if the negotiations were going on now, with the "safe ground" debacle on C Street causing endless stress for the nearby residents, they would not be so welcoming.
And that is the ultimate tragedy to come out of the "tent city" side show. After seeing the hell that Pedro Hernandez has been put through, what neighborhood will be willing to have a supportive housing unit be placed in their area? Frankly, if Sister Libby or Mark Merin were involved in the project, they would be crazy if they did.
Yes, the site has two outhouses, but they are well maintained and emptied regularly. They even have a hand washing station. A local musician came and played his guitar until about 8pm. The site most certainly does not stink. I've been there myself and there was no odor other than what you would smell anywhere else downtown.
I hold sympathy for the homeowner adjacent to the lot if he has endured any hardship. But I would also, question whether the problems have been from the SafeGround group or others who were already in the area.
Part of the idea here is to show that with just a little help from homeless service organizations and alot of cooperation and community building among people who are homeless they can have a quiet, safe, and low profile place to stay as an interim until more permanent housing is available.
If that is the idea, then they've failed spectacularly.