KALAMAZOO (WWJ) – The city of Kalamazoo is taking steps to lessen the punishments for several crimes, including public urination and littering.
The Kalamazoo City Commission voted unanimously on Monday to decriminalize several offenses, changing them from misdemeanors to civil infractions, despite opposition from downtown business owners, according to a report from MLive.
The commission approved the change for six infractions:
• public urination
• littering
• abandoned refrigerators and similar containers
• inoperable or wrecked motor vehicles and vehicle parts
• restriction on use of barbed wire/electric fences
• smoking ban in parking ramps
One business owner, Cherri Emery, said during Monday’s meeting she’s sick of the mess in front of her store.
“I don’t understand why we’d make it easier for them,” she said. “And do you think they’re actually going to pay a $200 fine or $500 fine? No. They’re not.”
But Commissioner Estevan Juarez said one of the big reasons for approving the proposal was because they’re “not worth ruining a life.”
“If you think about access to facilities or somebody who has no place to put their possessions, or if you don’t have the ability to pay for bulk trash pickup at your house or to pay for trash removal at your house. Who is that going to disproportionately impact? People who already have not a whole lot,” Juarez said.
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Commissioners noted a misdemeanor conviction stays on someone’s record for life and can have negative impacts.
Commissioner Stephanie Hoffman said empathy and compassion are important.
“If you see a person who may be defecating, someone in their sane mind would not do that,” Hoffman said, per MLive. “There is an issue, there is a trauma, there is a crisis going on.”