Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Encampments And Homelessness topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City pushes outreach and targeted enforcement to reduce fire risk from encampments
Summary
City homelessness and police officials said outreach, Project Connect, micro-shelters and faster urban-services response have reduced the number of camps and improved cleanup speed, but terrain and land-ownership complicate enforcement in high-risk foothill areas.
Mayoral office homelessness advisor Andrew Johnston and police representatives described a combined services-and-enforcement strategy to address camps in foothill areas where residents worry about fire risk.
"There are far fewer campers up there than in previous years," said Andrew Johnston, noting improved outreach capacity and permanent winter shelter beds that have reduced the overall number of camps and allowed urban services to reach sites within a day or two. Johnston credited micro-shelter projects and new permanent winter sites for improving shelter availability.
Johnston described Project Connect, an initiative that targets roughly 50 people with the highest interactions with police to offer intensive services and reduce repeat encampment cycles. A deputy police chief said enforcement is difficult in steep, remote terrain and that officers now use drones and coordinate with landowners and state partners to locate camps and plan safer access.
Officials acknowledged that clearing camps without service alternatives simply relocates the problem; they said the city is coupling outreach with cleanup and considering ways to "activate" open space so it is less hospitable to hidden encampments. Police said they aim to enforce with an emphasis on connecting people to services rather than purely punitive measures.
