Police chief: Homeless are not all criminals
(Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series covering the issue of homelessness in Santa Monica).
Before they approved $1.8 million in social services for the coming year, City Council members were briefed last week on a handful of new laws designed to curb the growing homeless population in Santa Monica.
The three laws, passed by the City Council in the last year, have only recently been enforced. Though some business leaders said the effects haven’t yet been fully seen, police said they are working around the clock to uphold the laws.
“When it comes to enforcement of anti-social behavior, we have manifested a zero-tolerance posture,” Santa Monica Police Department Chief James T. Butts told the City Council.
Patrolling the growing homeless population, which is estimated at about 1,400 people, always has posed legal challenges. In the past, police officers typically issued citations for drinking or urinating in public, camping in public, blocking a pedestrian walkway, or for other common offenses, SMPD Lt. Frank Fabrega said.
But with the creation of the three new ordinances, local law officers now have a more diverse repertoire of tactics for dealing with the increasing vagrant population.
One of the laws makes it illegal for homeless people to sleep in the bluffs between Palisades Park and the Pacific Coast Highway below. The second law requires organizations that distribute food to large groups in area parks to obtain permits from LA County and City Hall. The third law makes it illegal for people to sleep in business doorways downtown.
Responding to resident and council concerns that the laws aren’t adequately enforced by police, Butts said the SMPD conducts weekly undercover panhandling stings to root out aggressive beggars and is actively enforcing the October 2002 law that forbids people from sleeping in downtown doorways.
One problem is that for the sleeping law to be enforced, businesses must post a sign publicizing the law. Butts said some businesses shy away from posting the sign because it draws attention to the problem.
About 150 businesses have posted signs, and 52 citations have been issued for violations, said Julie Rusk, City Hall’s manager of human services.
Fabrega said the June 2003 law banning sleeping in the bluffs above PCH also is routinely enforced, though he did-n’t say how many citations have been issued. The steep, dangerous bluffs for years were the location of makeshift homes set up by vagrants.
Butts said in the coming year, the SMPD will continue to patrol the public food lines but he stopped short of providing specifics. Though the law has been challenged in court for being a violation of First Amendment rights, officials are confident it’s legality will be upheld.
Under the October 2002 law, groups serving food must obtain health permits from LA County. If the feedings exceed 150 people, an event permit also must be obtained from City Hall. Those permits are limited to two or three per group each 90 days, Rusk said. Rusk said because of an extensive education effort by City Hall, including the mailing out of 70 information packets and holding of two community meetings, one group has voluntarily moved indoors to the Ocean Park Community Center, the city’s largest provider of social services, and another three groups have applied for the required permits.
Six groups are still holding the regular feedings in area parks, Rusk said. It’s unknown how many groups hold sporadic feedings. Fabrega said no citations yet have been issued under the law.
Asked by council members if any of the six remaining groups, all of which travel to Santa Monica from out of the area, would be willing to partner with a local social service agency and hold their feedings indoors, Rusk said, “All of these groups know the issue is on the table and the opportunity is out there.”
Business leaders have repeatedly stressed their concerns that the growing homeless population scares away tourists and hurts local business. At last week’s annual review of the social services provided by City Hall, Dr. Mike Gruning, chairman of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce and a Montana Avenue merchant, urged council members to step up enforcement of the laws.
He asked the council to consider requiring groups that feed more than 30 people to obtain permits from City Hall, instead of waiting until groups reach 150. Gruning said it would make for “light years” of progress in addressing the homeless issue downtown.
Policing the growing homeless population became such a concern that in 1991 a team was formed of five police officers dedicated solely to the homeless issue. Called the Homeless Liaison Program team, the officers work closely with merchants and residents on homeless issues.
“If somebody’s having an issue with the homeless between two and four in the morning they will reschedule and try to come and work with not only the businesses but also the residential people with problems,” Fabrega said, adding that non- HLP officers also respond to homeless-related calls.
In the 2002-2003 fiscal year, the HLP team received 770 calls for service involving homeless persons and from Oct. 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003, paramedics received 908 calls related to homeless persons, Rusk said.
Fabrega said there is no way of quantifying the total number of calls to the SMPD related to the homeless because they do not categorize complaints in such a way.
The bottom line, Butts said, is that most of the crimes the homeless commit are against other homeless. But not all of them are criminals, he added. “... the bigger issue is the overrepresentation of homeless persons that are either victims of crime or are involved in crimes,” Butts said, adding that being deranged may be scary but it’s not illegal. (The HLP team can be reached at (310) 458-8953.)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 3, 2003. Read the original PDF.