Fresno police arrested “139 people since a ban on homeless encampments in public spaces went into effect.” They set each and every one of them free immediately. The idea is more to look good on TV than solve the problem. They’re hoping the harassment strategy will encourage the homeless to move to another jurisdiction voluntarily.
Fresno acting tough
After years of enabling the homeless to do as they please, the city of Fresno suddenly decided to clean up their image. A few weeks ago, they enacted a law cracking down on vagrants. It’s not unconstitutional to close a tent city or arrest someone for sleeping on the sidewalk.
Liberal Democrats were convinced that was a violation of human rights until the Supreme Court recently put an end to such nonsense. Administrative agencies have every right to clear out unsanitary encampments whether the residents have somewhere else to go or not.
“I heard I was supposed to get a warning, I didn’t get no warning,” Erwin exclaims. He’s upset. “They woke me up first thing in the morning. The sun was barely coming up and took me to jail.” They could at least wait for a civilized hour of the day to roust him.
Apparently, Mr. Erwin didn’t realize that the little encounter he had with cops the evening prior was his official “warning.” He ignored it. On Wednesday, they told him to “move out of his encampment.” He didn’t realize they meant then.
Erwin relates he was “sleeping on the sidewalk near the intersection of Divisadero and H streets when Fresno Police arrested him on Thursday.” It ruined his day. “I was pretty devastated, crushed. I wanted to cry.”
The city ordinance makes it clear that public spaces are not suitable for camping. Free range drug addicts are no longer allowed to set up a tent on the sidewalk.
Police are busy confronting the scofflaws who believe they have good reasons why the rules shouldn’t apply to them. The next day, they move the same people from different places. They’ll keep doing that until the homeless decide to flee Fresno.
“The officers have been citywide, working every day, they finally have had the opportunity to address some of the folks that have just been repeating problems at locations, repeat pile-ups of trash, or repeat complaints from neighbors,” said interim Fresno police Chief Mindy Casto.
She also confirms “officers do not have to give people warnings.” If Erwin had been paying attention when he was warned, he could have been provided with temporary shelter. By choosing to ignore what they said, he blew the opportunity.
Liberal city officials are offering what they call the “treatment-first program.” The goal in Fresno is to “to get unhoused people to help, but if they repeatedly refuse, or if there are other circumstances, they can be placed in jail.” They can be but they aren’t. “If they’re arrested, such as Mr. Erwin was, he had a misdemeanor warrant, so he wasn’t offered services, as far as housing, because he was booked in jail for the warrant. He was, however, offered diversion services for any substance abuse issues, and he declined.” A few hours later “Erwin was cited and released.”
He homed in on the same patch of sidewalk he’d been evicted from. “It’s the only real place I know that’s called home right now. Just an area where I know people, they know me, I can get help from my friends.” He’s now “worried about paying a $1,000 fine.” He goes back to court at the end of January. Fresno officials relate that the acceptance rate on their offer of help is “just over 6 percent.” The rest prefer to camp elsewhere.
Posts
