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Resident urges Escambia County to close camping, trespass and animal-control enforcement gaps
Summary
Jerry Price, a resident who spoke during Escambia County’s public forum, asked county commissioners to work with the sheriff’s legal office to make camping and trespass rules enforceable after a property owner was told deputies could not remove a tent and personal belongings from a right-of-way.
Jerry Price, a resident who spoke during Escambia County’s public forum, asked county commissioners to work with the sheriff’s legal office to make camping and trespass rules enforceable after a property owner was told deputies could not remove a tent and personal belongings from a right-of-way.
“Ran into a situation where an owner called the sheriff's department to come out and remove a tent and trash personal belongings from a homeless person. And they told the owner it was on the right of way. They couldn't do anything about it. Where does the camping ordinance come in on this?” Price said.
Price said he had been told some language in the county’s camping ordinance prevents deputies from enforcing it in certain situations. He suggested county commissioners or County Attorney staff coordinate with the sheriff’s legal department to revise the ordinance so it can be enforced.
Price also raised concerns about animal-control enforcement. “Animal control won't go out because it said because they said, everybody has a right to have a dog,” he said, adding that many dogs at intersections lacked tags or vaccinations and that pit bulls presented a public-safety concern.
He described inconsistencies in enforcement around landscaped medians and cited deputies classifying some behavior as a low-priority “level 5” violation that he said is not pursued by enforcement officers. Price asked whether the county could craft a repeat-trespassing ordinance to allow sheriffs to remove people who repeatedly return to private or multiple properties.
No formal action was taken during the public forum. The county's public forum is intended for matters not on the regular meeting agenda; Price and other speakers were told matters that are on the agenda must be signed up for the regular board meeting. The forum concluded and the board planned to reconvene at 9 a.m. for the regular meeting.
Details Price raised will need formal consideration by the Board of County Commissioners or the county attorney’s office, and the transcript does not record any immediate direction or votes from commissioners during the public forum.
