Long Beach officials are prepared to issue citations and make arrests, as a last resort, to clear out homeless camps.
In a memo released Monday, Deputy City Manager Teresa Chandler wrote that “encampments and individuals in situations of high danger to physical safety, such as unsafe vacant structures or in areas vulnerable to storm events, may be subject to citation.”
“On an as-needed basis and as resources allow, the City’s Public Spaces Workgroup will identify Priority Focus Areas in which to apply an encampment resolution model,” Chandler wrote. “In order to resolve encampment activities as quickly as possible, the City’s Interdepartmental Homelessness Team will focus [on] intensified outreach, trust-building and offers of shelter and resources for those within the encampment. 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.”
She maintained, however, that the city is “committed to leading with compassion and empathy and focusing on services that can resolve homelessness.”
Long Beach City Councilman Daryl Supernaw told KNX News’ Jon Baird he thinks this is a step in the right direction.
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“There are certain hotspots that tend to keep going on and on and you can clear folks out and then others or the same folks are back again, and so we need to find a way to stop this kind of cyclical situation,” he said.
This comes almost a week after Governor Gavin Newsom stated he would withhold funding from cities and counties in California if they do not begin clearing out homeless camps.
“Any county that's not interested in that and is holding on to stale talking points from the eighties and nineties, we're not interested in continuing the funding," he said.
In June, the Supreme Court ruled that cities can enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outdoors.
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