Posted on 10/26/2005 10:16:54 AM PDT by SmithL
CONCORD - Officers from six police agencies swept through 24 homeless camps early Tuesday in a new push to get people off the streets and into shelters and help programs.
Four teams of officers arrived before dawn at camps near bridges, creeks and trails in Concord, Pleasant Hill and Pacheco.
They warned camp residents to pack up and leave within 48 hours or risk being evicted and arrested. Shortly after 6 a.m. Thursday, county crews will move in to close the camps, hauling out mattresses, bedsprings, camp stoves and other debris left behind.
The operation reflects a shift in strategy for the county and its police agencies, authorities said.
This was the first time several agencies coordinated action against the camps. Earlier this month, social service providers had visited to advise residents about entering shelters and getting into programs that can help with substance abuse and other chronic problems.
"You call it eviction. We call it help," Ron Turner, a Concord police officer, told one homeless woman living by a creek in Pacheco. "We're trying to so something different."
Social service providers have helped at least 12 people get beds in shelters or find a place in substance abuse programs, county officials said.
"This is a humanitarian approach," said Cynthia Belon, director of Contra Costa County's homeless program. "It's far more effective to give someone a place in a shelter and an appointment for them to get help."
Belon, however, said there is little chance the county has room in shelters for everyone who may want it Thursday.
One homeless advocate suggested the new collaborative operation is more show than substance because of the lack of shelter beds.
"If you close the camps and don't have any shelter beds, where will these people go?" said Susan Prather, director of the Fresh Start homeless help program in Walnut Creek.
Joining in the operation Tuesday were some 22 law enforcement officers from Concord and Pleasant Hill police, Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office, East Bay Regional Park District and California Highway Patrol. A state fish and game warden also assisted.
In all, officers contacted 34 people in the camps.
Park police Lt. Jon King said authorities want to break the cycle that keeps homeless people moving from one city to another as they are ordered out of one area.
"I'm not going to tell you this will solve the homeless problem," King said, "but if we can reach more people to let them know help, it's a step in the right direction."
Charles Ducker, 51, said he has stayed in several camps in Central Contra Costa County in the past four years.
On Tuesday, he was sleeping in a rat-infested tent by a creek shoreline near Concord Avenue when officers awakened him about 6:30 a.m.
"The rats don't bite, but they will bump against your body when they want food," Ducker said. "The rats are really hooked on doughnuts."
Officers grimaced at the sight of the rats, photographed Ducker and made notes on the huge collection of blankets, clothes, bicycles and bike parts in the encampment.
When told he would have 48 hours to move out, Ducker appeared resigned. "I don't know where I'll go."
Officers said they would help him apply to a shelter but had no guarantees he could get into one.
Later at another creekside camp in Pacheco, Christina Barnes said she would welcome a spot in a county shelter in Concord.
But, Barnes, 41, an Antioch High School graduate, declined officers' offer of a spot in a Richmond shelter. She doesn't want to be separated from friends in Concord, she said.
Barnes said she has been homeless for about four years since her husband abandoned her.
"I'm glad you're giving me 48 hours notice," Barnes told the officers at her encampment. "It's good you're going to clean things up here. Can I come back when it's clean?"
Officers said no but promised to continue checking shelters for openings.
At a camp farther down the creek, Robert Tweedy, who said he has been homeless for 16 years, said he doesn't need or want to stay in a shelter.
"I don't like shelters," he said. "I'll be moving on."
And there you have it.
They're not homeless. They are "sidewalk campers."
I work in downtown San Antonio. The 'homeless' here are living fine on handouts from the Methodist church. They urinate in the streets and one city councilwoman got $1/4M crappers installed somewhere down here to try to alleviate the problem. This, after she couldn't get it passed to let them pee in the streets and panhandle in a 'cor-free' zone.
Moving on? Two of these 'homeless' told me and a friend they had been given one-way tickets. He was from Austin and she was from Corpus Christi. Sound good to you?
Me neither. Why should one city send their problems to another? Why do do-gooder Liberals not get it that these folks live in the street because they like it? Shelters aren't going to do a thing about that.
Tell them all to go along the American River in Sacto. They will have plenty of company, and there are a bunch of soup kitchens in the area to attract the flies.
Expect the ACLU to come to the homeless' defense, if they haven't already.
We have a number of shelters and residences for the homeless. We have an abundance of programs to help them find jobs, get an education, get clean and sober, and pull themselves out of their misery. A large number of them choose NOT to take advantage of these programs.
America can kill 40 million + pre born citizens
but not the one's who cant or wont make it?...
Kinda backwards ain't it?
;)
Slooooow down there. Jobs? Jobs are for suckas. Much better to sleep with the donut-addicted rats that merely bump up against you when they want food.
They'll take the rest of that stuff though.
The first mistake was thinking all (possibly any of) these people wanted help. From there it goes downhill.
They'll take the rest of that stuff though.
***
Actually, many homeless don't even want the rest of the stuff.
I dont' want to say "all." I have a friend of a friend who was down and out. He took advantage of help offered by the Salvation Army. He finished high school and earned a college degree, and now has a managerial career with the local post office. He volunteers most weekends at a homeless shelter run by the Army -- "giving back" for all the help they gave him.
He has said that often the shelter beds are empty and the help the Army offers usually goes unwanted. It's a crying shame.
Uh...what if "they" don't want to get help, Cynthia??? Make "'em" do it anyway???
My housecleaner--a very fine and a very good woman--was deeply involved in her chruch's efforts to help the homeless. I told her to give them my telephone number; I had jobs. Only one called me. He was living in a box under a bridge. I offered him a good job at decent pay. He didn't want it.
I sometimes see two homeless men at a certain shopping center. They live under a nearby bridge. One tried (unsuccessfully) to panhandle me for money once; a passing motorist stopped and warned me that he is a heroin addict who will say anything for money. Since then, I've watched them wander around in a daze high on something.
An employment agency???
Can you say: "Do you want fries with this?"
And I don't need or want to help him.
Good thing I am not allowed to curse on FR...
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