A coalition has accused a San Francisco city operation of not respecting the rights of homeless people.
The Coalition on Homelessness recently released a report calling foul on the way homeless encampments are removed, saying staff at Healthy Streets Operations Center are more focused on clearing the streets of tents and people's belongings rather than actually helping them.
Healthy Streets Operations Center was launched in 2018 to "coordinate response to homeless encampments and to behaviors that impact quality of life in San Francisco’s public spaces."
"San Francisco street response should not be about property, should not be about tents or the visibility of homelessness, it should be about people and helping people get resources that can help them meaningfully exit from homelessness," Carlos Watkins, a spokesperson for the coalition, told KCBS Radio.
The main accusation in the report is that the agency is focusing on keeping streets clear rather than on people. "In the process they are constantly discarding people’s property, throwing it away and making people have to restart over and over again who have nothing," Watkins said.
Toro Castanya, who was previously homeless, would watch the sweep operations take place. "It seemed their goal was to clear camps or gather as many tents as they could and disperse people because they just didn’t want us there," he said.
When asked for a comment by KCBS Radio, Sam Dodge, head of Healthy Streets Operations Center, defended his staff, stating they’ve even attempted to work together with the coalition to fix any wrongdoings. "I do appreciate their interest and effort and we’ve invited them to come be part of our work group to help us improve," he said.
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