LB City officials roll out a plan with legal enforcement alternatives to clear out encampments that pose a public threat or block access to libraries, parks, and beaches, as well as addressing homeless camps where people have repeatedly declined to accept service or shelter. LA Times reports.
Long Beach will begin citing and possibly arresting homeless people as part of the city’s effort to crack down on its most problematic encampments.
Those actions will be used as a last resort to remove encampments known to be “difficult spots,” Long Beach Deputy City Manager Teresa Chandler announced in a memo this week.
“This enforcement mechanism will be used as an additional tool when appropriate,” Chandler said, “while continuing to apply a human-centered approach to addressing homelessness.
“Enforcement of the city’s anti-camping ordinance through issuing of a misdemeanor citation will generally be utilized after multiple attempts of outreach and at the team’s discretion, as appropriate,” the memo said.Sign up to receive updates on Opp Now articles. Click HERE.
The city’s crackdown comes more than a month after Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order directing state agencies to clear encampments from state property and urging counties and cities to do the same.
It’s all the result of the Supreme Court ruling in June that said counties and cities can enforce laws restricting homeless people from sleeping or camping in public spaces, even if there isn’t adequate shelter available.
The ruling was considered a win by the leaders of many cities in the West, where a majority of the nation’s unhoused people live.
City officials said the enforcement might cause people to move to other parts of the city or to neighboring cities.
Still, city officials say they are doing everything they can to approach the situation as humanely as possible, including having built a new homeless shelter and more housing units.
The memo calls on the city to boost funding for motel vouchers and permanent housing to provide people a route out of the shelter system, as well as to increase staffing at the Homeless Services Bureau and other departments that work with homeless population.
“It is important to remember that this approach builds upon a strong foundation of existing work,” the memo said, “and that the city’s capacity to address homelessness has grown dramatically over the past few years.”
The city plans to review the effectiveness and impact of its enforcement efforts in six months.
Read the whole thing here.
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