Now That 5 Shelter Beds are Available, San Diego Can Ticket Those Who Snooze on City Streets
The homeless can still sleep soundly in San Diego at night. But now it will have to be in a shelter bed or a jail cell, unless they can find an alternative snooze spot out of sight from police.
Under a settlement of litigation brought by advocates for the homeless, city police will no longer have to refrain from arresting those asleep on San Diego’s streets between 9 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. But before ticketing them for the noncriminal violation officers must first offer the homeless services and a shelter bed, according to CNS/News 8.
Only after services are refused can violators be arrested and, potentially, jailed for the night, officials say.
San Diego currently has only five shelter beds per night available to the homeless, for which it has contracted with other providers. However, a 220-bed homeless shelter is planned. Meanwhile, officials expect that most of those told their options by police will refuse a bed and simply move on, the article explains.
“The beauty of it is, by enforcing the law, we are offering beds, and we’re getting these folks off the streets, into shelters and into services,” deputy City Attorney Daniel Bamberg tells the station.
A press release by the American Civil Liberties Union provides additional details about the settlement of the federal lawsuit last month.
It says the case was prompted, at least in part, by a city practice of seizing the possessions of homeless individuals once they were left unattended in a public place and immediately destroying them in a garbage compactor. Under the settlement, the city is required to provide secure storage bins for homeless individuals’ belongings.
“This is a smart solution to a complex problem,” says private practitioner Scott Dreher, who helped the ACLU bring the case, in the release. “Not only does this provides a much needed service for our city’s homeless, it is a sensible and humane way to keep our city streets clean for growing and expanding businesses.”
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