An unnamed Lancaster Police Department representative updated commissioners on planned enforcement, homeless outreach operations and community engagement.

LPD described two complementary teams: a homeless‑outreach unit (three part‑time teams: enforcement, engagement/check‑in and maintenance) and a core team that connects people to housing and services. For 2025 the homeless outreach team reported 3,438 contacts, 540 encampments cleared, 706 tons of trash removed, 675 shopping carts recovered, 363 community service requests and 1,210 park sweeps.

"We will make an initial contact, and we will reach out to offer services to every single homeless contact we make," the LPD representative said, outlining the department’s emphasis on repeated, compassionate contacts to build trust before removal. If an encampment is posted for removal the department posts a 7‑day notice, returns with contract crews and law enforcement after that period and then completes cleanup; staff said they try to fast‑track services for people who accept help during outreach visits.

Commissioners and staff discussed a concentrated enforcement effort at the Kaye & Challenger corridor. LPD described property‑owner cooperation including camera installation, the temporary placement of water‑filled barricades and a plan by a cooperating owner to host a substation in a vacant building and fund improvements such as bulletproof windows for staff.

LPD said it had recently increased efforts to recover stolen shopping carts and return them to stores, a program started about six months earlier that officials expect to expand. The department also discussed enforcement support with Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) on single‑item alcohol sales, described grandfathering of older licenses, and said the city has a moratorium on new smoke‑shop licenses.

On emerging substances, staff described state legislation under Senator Tom Umberg and hearings before the Senate Public Safety Committee to regulate nitrous oxide and 7‑hydroxymitragynine (a kratom derivative), which department staff said was implicated in several county deaths; the city is monitoring state action and may add local measures.

The LPD representative said the department is hiring (14 officers, four sergeants posted) and credited interagency collaboration with the sheriff's station and CHP for recent gains. Commissioners praised the outreach and cleanup crews and encouraged continued coordination with property owners and county teams.