Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Homelessness Enforcement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Police report: 60‑day review of lodging‑outdoors ordinance shows mostly voluntary compliance and service referrals
Summary
Hagerstown Police reported 43 encounters in the first 60 days after the city enacted an ordinance restricting lodging in outdoor public spaces; most contacts resulted in voluntary moves and referrals to services, and officers documented barriers including mental‑health and substance‑use issues.
Hagerstown Police provided a 60‑day update Oct. 21 on enforcement and outreach under the city’s recently enacted ordinance restricting sleeping, camping or lodging in outdoor public places. Chief Kuiper and lieutenant Andy Lewis reported 43 encounters citywide since enactment, with most interactions resulting in voluntary movement and offers of services.
According to the police summary, 20 of the encounters were calls for service and 23 were officer‑initiated. Of 37 individuals who responded to questions about prior offers of assistance, 30 (81%) said they had been offered services prior to police contact and seven said they had not. Officers recorded 35 single individuals, two couples and one group of six, and documented observed barriers to service engagement in 28 encounters — most commonly mental‑health challenges, substance use and refusal of available services.
The report said 32 individuals (86% of those contacted) reported they were not currently engaged in public services; 41 reported unemployment. Residency information indicated 25 individuals originated from Hagerstown and 15 reported other jurisdictions (including Baltimore, Frederick, Martinsburg, New York, Rockville, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania).
Enforcement actions were limited: officers “moved along” (inform and move on) 22 people and noted 15 were already aware of the ordinance. Two arrests for warrants and three arrests for other criminal charges (trespass or related crimes) were recorded. Chief Kuiper said two charges were initially filed under the new ordinance in error for activity on private shopping‑center property; those ordinance charges were dropped and correct trespass or criminal charges remained where appropriate. The department characterized most interactions as a mix of education, service connection and accountability and said the community partners are reporting increased traffic to social‑service providers.
Police said the city is seeing a “transient” pattern with many contacts involving people from outside the county and that shelter capacity and program eligibility (some shelters serve county residents only or operate seasonally) limit local placement options in some cases. No change to ordinance language was adopted at the meeting; staff said they would continue to monitor and provide updates.
