San Jose moves to expand enforcement, in‑house outreach and tracking for lived‑in vehicles; police plan neighborhood quality unit

San Jose officials on May 12 described a suite of enforcement and outreach changes aimed at reducing impacts from lived‑in vehicles and encampments, while attempting to coordinate offers of shelter and diversion to services.

Transportation staff said the city’s ALA/OLIV program has targeted roughly 20 sites so far and is seeing a high rate of voluntary vehicle removal; staff reported about 12 towings to date. City leaders proposed expanding the program next year to another 50 sites and adding enhanced enforcement for single‑vehicle “one‑off” locations through a manager’s budget addendum (MBA No. 4) that would also pilot stricter checks of expired vehicle registration and street‑sweeping compliance.

Assistant City Manager Lee Wilcox and Director of Transportation John Risto described the enhanced enforcement proposal as a two‑part approach: continued, targeted posting and clean‑up at large clusters (the ALA cadence of temporary tow‑away signs) and a new enforcement stream to address small clusters and one‑off vehicles that are not on the program’s scheduled list. Risto said the city’s early experience shows many vehicles move voluntarily after a one‑week notice; when tows occur they have been relatively few so far. Staff cautioned, however, that vehicles displaced by targeted enforcement often relocate to other neighborhoods.

Staff described specific operational changes proposed in the MBA: expired‑registration enforcement (the program would begin with vehicles unregistered for one year in the public right‑of‑way), expanded temporary tow signage and a potential permanent signage program at high‑priority locations, and additional capacity for street‑sweeping compliance. PRNS staff said the city is also expanding a bio‑waste collection program that currently serves about 600 vehicles and is exploring city‑owned discharge/collection sites to better manage sanitary waste.

Housing Department staff said the Barriessa RV Safe Parking site filled quickly after opening, and budget limitations make building more identical sites in the near term unlikely. As a result, housing staff said they will pursue other programmatic options (for example, buyback programs or temporary yards) and sequence those options to coincide with new shelter or motel beds coming online later in the year.

To improve coordination between engagement and enforcement, housing proposed an Enhanced Engagement Program (EEP) that would bring outreach work more directly into city operations. Staff said the EEP would be funded by compressing existing outreach contracts, redeploying savings and adding three in‑house FTEs to focus on the largest encampments, pre‑abatement engagement to build comprehensive case files, and tracking shelter offers and refusals. Housing Director Eric Solivan said the EEP would not perform enforcement—rather, it would standardize outreach data collection, create consistent case files and strengthen offers of shelter and service referrals prior to enforcement.

Chief of Police Paul Joseph described a proposed Neighborhood Quality of Life Unit in the Bureau of Field Operations: one sergeant and six officers focused on enforcement of criminal violations tied to encampments and quality‑of‑life impacts, while coordinating with housing outreach to document offers of services. Joseph said the department intends to expand the Mission Street Recovery Station diversion process for low‑level nonviolent arrestees so they can be connected to on‑site counselors and service providers rather than be processed in county jail when appropriate.

City Attorney Nora Bridal said her office is drafting updates to the municipal code (trespass, trash accumulation, 72‑hour parking and related provisions) and is reviewing legal questions about whether an “offer of shelter” creates a binding acceptance requirement. Bridal said early work indicates a documented offer and refusal would not itself create a legal duty to accept shelter but could be relevant evidence when considering enforcement actions. Her office is also discussing diversion options with county partners and the courts and will return with ordinance updates and procedural recommendations in June.

Council members repeatedly asked for performance data and expressed concern about displacement: they asked how many vehicles moved into adjacent neighborhoods after enforcement and requested clearer metrics to show whether expanded enforcement reduces or simply relocates visible camping. Staff said they are compiling citywide inventories and will brief the council before setting the next set of sites.

Less critical details: transportation staff said contracted towing has been limited to date and initial enforcement focused on voluntary compliance after one‑week posting; housing said outreach contracts will be “compressed” and savings reinvested to hire internal outreach workers; PRNS described proposals to expand dumpster days by 20 per year and invest in deterrents and cleanup.