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Dispersing the Homeless from San Lorenzo Benchlands: Suggestions for the Victims
Below is a double-sided flier I circulated today and will do again tomorrow, energy willing. The San Lorenzo Benchlands area contains scores of tents which now face eviction. The "humanitarian" cover for this removal operation is a $90,000/month fenced off area on the edge of town at 1220 River St. with unclear access policies and three levels of policing (internal hosts, First Alarm Security outside, and a nearby mobile Police Substation).
The deadline for eviction tomorrow, according to workers at the River St. campground, is 11 AM. While I found numerous City-funded workers helping move homeless property from San Lorenzo to River St. today, there is clearly no place for most homeless people in the City to go.
Most survival campers will be outside both campgrounds and the law. They will be struggling to reestablish the relative security, privacy, and community that some had in the San Lorenzo benchlands.
The folks staffing the project under City Manager Martin Bernal are well-intended and some have experience with survival camping themselves. However the small size of the area, the peculiar ("no walk in") rules, and the failure to allow continued Benchlands camping until another area at least as large is designated gives away the game: to remove campers from the San Lorenzo Park as a first priority, regardless of their well-being.
To save face, in search of positive public opinion, and to avoid lawsuits, the City has funded this "boneyard" Campground as a temporary 4-month cosmetic behind barbed wire for a limited number of Benchlands campers. The rest are left to scramble for places to set up their tents--if that will even be permitted or possible elsewhere.
Police and rangers can choose to resume enforcement of the notorious anti-homeless Sleeping Ban and Park Closing laws. They can simply say "hey, we sent them to the River St. campground to get on the Waiting List" as they enforce the latest NIMBY anxieties against visible homeless people, providing paper rather than real alternatives.
I encourage the community and the campers to look to Berkeley where First They Came for the Homeless [https://www.facebook.com/firsttheycameforthehomeless/] has successfully connected with the community despite the repeated assaults of the police to establish continuing viable "sanctuary villages" there. I suggest the deported community from San Lorenzo, city-created refugees, should consider their example.
I present my suggestions in the double-sided flier which I attach to this article.
Most survival campers will be outside both campgrounds and the law. They will be struggling to reestablish the relative security, privacy, and community that some had in the San Lorenzo benchlands.
The folks staffing the project under City Manager Martin Bernal are well-intended and some have experience with survival camping themselves. However the small size of the area, the peculiar ("no walk in") rules, and the failure to allow continued Benchlands camping until another area at least as large is designated gives away the game: to remove campers from the San Lorenzo Park as a first priority, regardless of their well-being.
To save face, in search of positive public opinion, and to avoid lawsuits, the City has funded this "boneyard" Campground as a temporary 4-month cosmetic behind barbed wire for a limited number of Benchlands campers. The rest are left to scramble for places to set up their tents--if that will even be permitted or possible elsewhere.
Police and rangers can choose to resume enforcement of the notorious anti-homeless Sleeping Ban and Park Closing laws. They can simply say "hey, we sent them to the River St. campground to get on the Waiting List" as they enforce the latest NIMBY anxieties against visible homeless people, providing paper rather than real alternatives.
I encourage the community and the campers to look to Berkeley where First They Came for the Homeless [https://www.facebook.com/firsttheycameforthehomeless/] has successfully connected with the community despite the repeated assaults of the police to establish continuing viable "sanctuary villages" there. I suggest the deported community from San Lorenzo, city-created refugees, should consider their example.
I present my suggestions in the double-sided flier which I attach to this article.
For more information:
http://huffsantacruz.org
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The city posted this photo on Facebook today, along with the caption: "Several campers moved into the River Street Camp yesterday. Things are very quiet this morning. Several more folks will settle in today."
KSBW's NIMBY-slanted story suggests SCPD boss Andy Mills response to fleeing San Lorenzo campers trying to lay down their sleeping bags had little or nothing to do with the needs of the homeless he was "surveying". His psuedo-census looks more like a mass screening operation designed to coerce homeless "get out of sight or get out of town". Did he single out the disobedient for special punishment?
I didn't observe, but find myself wondering if citations, arrests, and vehicle seizures were reserved for those who didn't move quickly enough to implement Mills "clear out of the downtown and the neighborhoods" agenda. My attempt to get e-mail reassurances from him haven't prompted much substantive response.
I've filed a Public Records Act request to get more details. Perhaps we'll see how forthcoming Mills and his boss Bernal are with the actual facts.
Here's the KSBW story (http://www.ksbw.com/article/santa-cruz-police-arrest-28-homeless-campers/19048090):
"SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — On Wednesday, the Santa Cruz Police Department conducted a "Homeless Assessment Outreach" operation in which officers attempted to make contact with every homeless person in the city in one day.
Santa Cruz is home to a large unsheltered population, with numerous encampments on public property.
Officers asked more than 500 homeless men and women to voluntarily take a survey about their lives and how they ended up on the streets of Santa Cruz.
"It can take many contacts to encourage people living on the street to accept services," said Police Chief Andy Mills. "Every person has their own story and path to the streets. It is essential to find out where they are from and how they got here."
Officers also arrested more than two dozen people, issued nearly 90 citations, and towed six vehicles.
Arrests and citations were made and issued for outstanding warrants, possession of illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia, littering, open containers, trespassing, and loitering, the SCPD said.
Mills told KSBW this week, "We really want to set that tone -- that we want to help in any way that we possibly can, but there is a line, and that line is criminality."
The city is spending a quarter-million dollars to operate a new temporary homeless camp, the River Street Emergency Transition Camp, for three months. The camp at 1220 River Street opened Wednesday." --KSBW-TV
--SCPD
The Sentinel's Jessica York in her police department puff piece, put it this way:
"Just outside San Lorenzo Park, a small group of people carting their possessions through a light rain said police officers had told them to leave the campsite. They were not planning to go to the new city encampment, they said, but also did not know where there next stop would be.
On Wednesday, Santa Cruz Police spread out across the city, attempting to make contact with and count each person living unsheltered in the city. In the process, officers counted approximately 500 people, of which they surveyed 251 for demographic information and causes of their situation.
An every-two-year homeless point-in-time count taken across Santa Cruz County in January 2017 registered a homeless count of 1,204 in the city, with 934 unsheltered.
Officers also handed out 89 infraction citations and made 28 arrests for everything from warrants and drug possession to littering and loitering. Six vehicles belonging to those contacted were towed. Officers distributed information on available homeless services, as well.
At the same time, people living at a controversial camp in San Lorenzo Park, the Benchlands Encampment, are being required to move out.
More than 250 homeless men and women completed the survey. They were about their age, where they came from, how long they've been without housing, and why they moved to Santa Cruz. Police said the information helped officers direct people who qualify for services, such as veterans or victims of domestic violence, to the right agencies.
Police said, "Recognizing the many challenges related to (homelessness), the Santa Cruz Police Department works closely with mental health professionals, drug and alcohol abuse rehabilitation counselors to provide resources and services to those in need," before officers make arrests.
251 surveys were completed More than 500 homeless people were contacted
89 citations were issued 28 arrests were madej.
[York's full story is at http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/social-affairs/20180301/santa-cruz-benchlands-homeless-camp-emptied-after-four-months].
It's the usual Sentinel whitewash of the disperses-and-intimidate operation. It ignores the basic fact that most of those outside and a significant number of those previously at the San Lorenzo campground were driven from a relatively safe and stable San Lorenzo campground into isolation, harassment, and a far worse situation. Sad but standard.
I didn't observe, but find myself wondering if citations, arrests, and vehicle seizures were reserved for those who didn't move quickly enough to implement Mills "clear out of the downtown and the neighborhoods" agenda. My attempt to get e-mail reassurances from him haven't prompted much substantive response.
I've filed a Public Records Act request to get more details. Perhaps we'll see how forthcoming Mills and his boss Bernal are with the actual facts.
Here's the KSBW story (http://www.ksbw.com/article/santa-cruz-police-arrest-28-homeless-campers/19048090):
"SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — On Wednesday, the Santa Cruz Police Department conducted a "Homeless Assessment Outreach" operation in which officers attempted to make contact with every homeless person in the city in one day.
Santa Cruz is home to a large unsheltered population, with numerous encampments on public property.
Officers asked more than 500 homeless men and women to voluntarily take a survey about their lives and how they ended up on the streets of Santa Cruz.
"It can take many contacts to encourage people living on the street to accept services," said Police Chief Andy Mills. "Every person has their own story and path to the streets. It is essential to find out where they are from and how they got here."
Officers also arrested more than two dozen people, issued nearly 90 citations, and towed six vehicles.
Arrests and citations were made and issued for outstanding warrants, possession of illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia, littering, open containers, trespassing, and loitering, the SCPD said.
Mills told KSBW this week, "We really want to set that tone -- that we want to help in any way that we possibly can, but there is a line, and that line is criminality."
The city is spending a quarter-million dollars to operate a new temporary homeless camp, the River Street Emergency Transition Camp, for three months. The camp at 1220 River Street opened Wednesday." --KSBW-TV
--SCPD
The Sentinel's Jessica York in her police department puff piece, put it this way:
"Just outside San Lorenzo Park, a small group of people carting their possessions through a light rain said police officers had told them to leave the campsite. They were not planning to go to the new city encampment, they said, but also did not know where there next stop would be.
On Wednesday, Santa Cruz Police spread out across the city, attempting to make contact with and count each person living unsheltered in the city. In the process, officers counted approximately 500 people, of which they surveyed 251 for demographic information and causes of their situation.
An every-two-year homeless point-in-time count taken across Santa Cruz County in January 2017 registered a homeless count of 1,204 in the city, with 934 unsheltered.
Officers also handed out 89 infraction citations and made 28 arrests for everything from warrants and drug possession to littering and loitering. Six vehicles belonging to those contacted were towed. Officers distributed information on available homeless services, as well.
At the same time, people living at a controversial camp in San Lorenzo Park, the Benchlands Encampment, are being required to move out.
More than 250 homeless men and women completed the survey. They were about their age, where they came from, how long they've been without housing, and why they moved to Santa Cruz. Police said the information helped officers direct people who qualify for services, such as veterans or victims of domestic violence, to the right agencies.
Police said, "Recognizing the many challenges related to (homelessness), the Santa Cruz Police Department works closely with mental health professionals, drug and alcohol abuse rehabilitation counselors to provide resources and services to those in need," before officers make arrests.
251 surveys were completed More than 500 homeless people were contacted
89 citations were issued 28 arrests were madej.
[York's full story is at http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/social-affairs/20180301/santa-cruz-benchlands-homeless-camp-emptied-after-four-months].
It's the usual Sentinel whitewash of the disperses-and-intimidate operation. It ignores the basic fact that most of those outside and a significant number of those previously at the San Lorenzo campground were driven from a relatively safe and stable San Lorenzo campground into isolation, harassment, and a far worse situation. Sad but standard.
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