New rule prohibits encampments on public property when shelter options are available. Enforcement won't begin until at least 30 days after aw becomes official.
Police will begin enforcing a new ordinance prohibiting homeless encampments on public property sometime later this year following the San Diego City Council’s 5-4 vote in support of the new law Tuesday.
Opponents argued the action was cruel and also unworkable, as there are not enough shelter beds to accommodate the people who would be subject to its enforcement. City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera addresses San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit during the council’s June 13 meeting.similar to the city’s ordinance that was proposed by former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer also called for a threshold before enforcement could begin. Faulconer’s initiative allowed enforcement to begin only if the city had enough shelter beds to accommodate 70 percent of the city’s homeless population living outdoors.
People Assisting the Homeless and the Regional Task Force on Homelessness also had opposed the ordinance because of a lack of shelter beds. San Diego’s Unsafe Camping Ordinance makes exceptions to the ruling by allowing enforcement in certain areas even if no shelter beds are available. Citing public safety concerns, the ordinance would allow such enforcement two blocks from schools or shelters, in public parks, canyons and waterways and banks.
The city already cites and arrests homeless people for blocking sidewalks through its encroachment ordinance. Takeuchi said enforcement of that law involves four encounters and includes issuing an infraction citation before a misdemeanor.
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