AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- With only days to go until a third phase begins in the City of Austin's effort to reinstate a ban on public camping, public safety leaders across the city got an update Tuesday on the state of the problem.
Officials from the Austin Police Department, the Austin Fire Department, and Austin-Travis County EMS met with the city's Public Safety Commission Tuesday afternoon to discuss the implementation of Proposition B.
APD Lieutenant Lee Davis, who heads up the outreach to the homeless community for the department, shared several data points at the meeting. Since Prop B went into effect on May 11, officers have connected 114 individuals with services. 382 warnings had been issued as of July 1, and officials say the number of tents on city streets has fallen by 21%.
The third phase of the city's implementation plan goes into effect this Sunday, July 11. Under Phase 3, if an officer has already issued a written warning, APD will then issue a citation. Arrests will only be made in areas where individuals refuse to vacate areas that have been deemed dangerous for the public, with examples including areas that are flood-prone or pose a high wildfire danger, or are next to a busy or high-speed roadway. The city says it will give a 72-hour notice before beginning to clear any encampments.
Downtown business owners are also keeping an eye on the city's progress. Bill Brice, vice president of the Downtown Austin Alliance, said he's disappointed in the slow progress. "The reinstatement of the aggressive solicitation laws also went into effect as did the ordinance against sitting and lying in the public rights of way, we see little enforcement of those ordinances happening right now," Brice said. "These are significant problems that are turning away visitors, that are concerning tenants, residents, people that are occupying office space and other buildings downtown."
Brice said the DAA has been counting the number of unsheltered homeless people that are living within the Downtown Public Improvement District, which covers much of the downtown area. Since May, that count has only gone down slightly, with DAA counting 808 individuals living on the street, in cars, or in tents as of June 17.