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Seal Beach police present ‘compassionate approach’ to homelessness; officers urge resources and note shelter limits
Summary
Seal Beach Police Department officers described their community‑oriented approach to contacting and assisting people experiencing homelessness, outlined enforcement triggers, and said the city has access to a single shelter referral option and limited shelter bed availability.
Seal Beach Police Chief Henderson and members of the department's Community Oriented Policing (COP) team presented an overview of the city’s response to persons experiencing homelessness to the City Council on Jan. 27, describing a health‑and‑safety approach that prioritizes outreach and voluntary services while reserving enforcement for criminal conduct.
“Homelessness is a complex societal issue,” Chief Henderson said, framing the presentation as a public‑information effort. Officers Kendra Owen and David Railbrooke explained that Seal Beach has a small and largely transient population of people experiencing homelessness, and that the department’s COP team focuses first on outreach, rapport‑building and referrals to shelter, medical care and social services.
The officers reported results from the January 2024 point‑in‑time count that showed 29 people recorded in Seal Beach on the count day, but said the department believes the consistent number of unhoused people here is closer to “less than 10.” The department provided service counts for calls for service: roughly 26,000 total calls in 2022 with about 1,000 related to homelessness (≈4%), about 31,000 calls in 2023 with 3.62% related to homelessness, and about 31,000 calls in 2024 with 2.23% related to homelessness.
Officer Railbrooke said the department works with the Orange County Health Care Agency outreach and engagement team and with the Yale Navigation Center in Santa Ana; the navigation center is the only shelter currently available for Seal Beach referrals, and officers said bed availability often ranges “from 0 to 3 beds.” When shelter referrals are accepted, officers said, logistics can delay placement because clients often move or lack contact information.
The department said enforcement is limited to circumstances involving criminal activity or where public access is blocked: examples include blocking a sidewalk, building structures on public property or trespassing on private property where an owner requests enforcement. Officers said property removed during cleanups can be stored for up to 90 days and may be disposed of earlier if hazardous or soiled.
Officers described other resources and partners available to assist people experiencing homelessness, including the county 211 service, the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT), Long Beach‑area partners, and nonprofit and county outreach teams. They said the department is expanding quality‑of‑life training for officers.
Council members asked about repeat individuals and what the department can do when a person refuses services. Officers said outreach and rapport‑building remain the primary tools and that involuntary shelter placement is not available; enforcement requires a criminal basis or a willing private‑property complainant.
The department emphasized that being unhoused is not criminal and that staff aim to balance residents’ quality‑of‑life concerns with civil liberties and available services.
