City staff has recently conducted two outreach operations to unhoused persons that focused on camps on city property and those located on private properties with Memorandums of Understanding in place for trespassing enforcement.
The first enforcement action occurred on May 18th, when 16 locations were visited by Independence Police Department officers and posted with notices to vacate the property by May 24th. All subjects present on May 24th would be arrested and booked for trespassing, warrants, and any other violations. Additionally, outreach resources were provided to any individuals not previously contacted. Moreover, Parks/Recreation/Tourism assisted by providing a clean-up crew to dispose of any property left at the camps. Prior contact was made with all property owners to ensure they wanted the personal property removed.
Overall, the officers found that most camps were vacated. The teams checked 16 camps and contacted 15 people total during the sweep. IPD issued three General Order Summons (GOS) for trespassing, five GOS’s for lingering, three felony warrant arrests and 26 municipal warrant arrests.
A second enforcement action was held the week of July 11th. Final report activity has not been summarized. Staff re-checked all 16 camps where outreach was previously conducted in May and all were again occupied. The biggest area of focus was Phil Roberts park and cleaning up debris that was lining the park.
Staff has begun planning for the next phase of the plan, which is proposed to be a long-term enforcement over a 5-week period. During these 5- weeks, staff would address homeless encampments and panhandling. The idea is to address property owner concerns about trespassing while bringing human compassion to bear by directing the unhoused community to social service resources. Staff from IPD, Parks/Recreation/Tourism and Municipal Services would coordinate together on these activities.
However, prior to engaging in this sustained effort, staff seeks direction from the City Council regarding their policy position on this matter. Specifically, staff needs direction on the following:
1. Approach toward relocation of unhoused persons.
2. Frequency of outreach to unhoused persons.
3. Allocation of financial and personnel resources to these outreach operations.