[Stoat]

Hicks said they would not have been arrested if they had not been homeless

Granted the ordinace was repealed but...no sh** Sherlock. Was he expecting residential folks to go out and try to get away with it? /s

Very true   :-)  I've always thought it strange that there couldn't simply be an ordinance that prohibits sleeping 'overnight' in open public areas within the city limits.  It could be justified on humanitarian and safety grounds, in that sleeping out in the open in the city places the sleeper at risk for victimization from crime and harm.

Hicks said they would not have been arrested if they had not been homeless

Granted the ordinace was repealed but...no sh** Sherlock. Was he expecting residential folks to go out and try to get away with it? /s

[Horatio Gates]

I don't know about outside of Washington State, but ordinances covering sleeping out in the open fell under vagrancy laws which were repealed a long time ago. I know parks are off limits for that, and using vehicles, campers and tents usually come under the building code which is not something the police would specifically deal with. On another note, the liquor laws covering consuming in public were also decriminalized so not only do we get to watch vagrants in their natural environment, we can sometimes watch them get wasted. Sorry... thats one of my pet peeves.

[HIDEK6]

It could be justified on humanitarian and safety grounds, in that sleeping out in the open in the city places the sleeper at risk for victimization from crime and harm.

Sorry, they'd be more at risk if they took a job in a place that allowed people to smoke.