Tag Archives: Police repression

Fresno Homeless Evictions Loom…on Valentine’s Day

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http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/02/11/18731822.php

Fresno has no Heart – Will Evict the Homeless on Valentines Day
by Mike Rhodes ( editor [at] fresnoalliance.com )
Monday Feb 11th, 2013 5:43 PM

The photo below shows the north end of the Monterey and E street homeless encampment.

An eviction of a significant number of homeless people at a downtown encampment will probably take place on Thursday, February 14. According to residents of the homeless encampment, located near Monterey and E street, they were told by the owner of the property they are living on that they have until Thursday to “move on.” The owner was accompanied by several officers from the Fresno Police Department and a truck & crew from the Fire Department.

One homeless man told me this afternoon (Monday, February 11) that the owner of the property said he would be bulldozing the vacant lot on Thursday and everything would be destroyed. “He told me to get the fuck out of here,” he shared with me as he sorted through recycled items sitting in several shopping carts on the property. When I asked if he was sure it was the owner, he said “well, he had the police with him, so it looked pretty convincing to me.”

Unlike other evictions by the City of Fresno, there are no signs posted to notify the residents of the demolition that is to come. Julie (not her real name), said someone had posted an eviction notice about a month ago, but those were torn down within an hour or two. The owner told her that he did not have to post notices because it is his property.

There was an eviction that took place in the spring of 2012 at another homeless encampment, behind the grain silos near Palm and H street, that was similar. This was private property, the owner made numerous attempts to force the homeless to move, and eventually put a fence around the property to force the eviction. Many of the homeless people from that encampment moved about 200 feet south and occupied a different vacant lot. They have not been threatened with eviction again, as far as I know.

Most of the residents at the Monterey and E street homeless encampment who are being threatened with eviction said they were planning on moving, but I was told that not everyone would pack up and move. I was told that it is only the north end of the encampment that has been threatened with eviction. The dividing line is Monterey street. Everything north of Monterey street will likely be destroyed on Thursday. Everything south of Monterey street is said to be safe from the demolition.

Can the owner of a vacant lot take and immediately destroy homeless peoples property? Did the City of Fresno threaten the owner with legal action if he did not move against the homeless? Will FPD officers participate in the demolition or arrest anyone if they resist? Observers are needed starting early Thursday morning. If you can help, meet at the encampment starting at 7 a.m. on Thursday. Bring your video or still camera to document what takes place. If you can’t come until later, let me know so we can coordinate having someone there all day.

Demolitions of homeless encampments in October and November of 2011 resulted in over 30 lawsuits against the City of Fresno claiming that the city violated homeless peoples legal rights by taking and immediately destroying their property. Those cases are working their way through the court. Without this litigation it is likely that the city would have been more aggressive in their attacks on the homeless. A new strategy of forcing property owners to evict the homeless may be emerging as City Hall seeks to avoid additional lawsuits.

###

Mike Rhodes is the editor of the Community Alliance newspaper. He can be reached by email at editor [at] fresnoalliance.com .

§Another view of the norht end of the encampment

by Mike Rhodes Monday Feb 11th, 2013 5:43 PM


§This shows the entire area impacted by the evictions

by Mike Rhodes Monday Feb 11th, 2013 5:43 PM


§Typical Shelter in the Area

by Mike Rhodes Monday Feb 11th, 2013 5:43 PM


§This is the center of the homeless encampment looking north

by Mike Rhodes Monday Feb 11th, 2013 5:43 PM

Destruction of Local Homeless Survival Camps in Felton: Another Disgraceful Episode

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Norse’s Notes:  Instead of ordering that the campsites be cleaned up, the real motivation of the vigilantes and sheriffs seems to be to drive away any and all homeless survival campers.
Too bad no one documented the three truckloads of “trash” with video.  When that was done in Fresno, the City lost a two million dollar lawsuit, and actually had to start at least giving token acknowledgment of state law regarding seized property.
More to the point would be establishing emergency campgrounds for folks who need to be outdoors (95% of whom have no legal shelter).  Even more addressing the underlying conditions that create this crisis.
If folks were serious about clean-up’s, the county would provide portapotties, dumpsters, trashbags, and legalization of clean camps.  If they were serious about ending unsafe needle disposal, they’d take local initiatives to end the insane Drug Prohibition war and at the very least expand (rather than contract) harm-reduction programs like needle exchange.
While it’s always encouraging to see community members getting together to clean-up areas that the city and county decline to address, that must not involve scapegoating a whole class of people.  T.J. Magallanes, who created The Clean Team website, has said and written this repeatedly.  But “Take Back Santa Cruz” type hardliners prefer to use the homeless as a political football here and blame them as a means of attacking a power structure (that deserves to be attacked, incidentally).
Screaming about “tolerance for drugs” and “illegal” homeless camps (when virtually all survival camping is illegal) is just blind bigotry and the kind of desperation that ensues when folks fail to identify the real enemies who run the show.
The KSBW news brief on this suggests the sweeps are “controversial” only in that they “aren’t effective” and folks seem to keep coming back.  Sort of reminds me of the homeless = vermin approach, used to describe insurgents, terrorists, 1930’s Jews, etc.  Dehumanizing people is a nice way of covering your fascist ass.
It’s also a pity that the “service providers” in the area didn’t speak out against this destruction of homeless survival camps.  Maintaining the illusion that there are shelter alternatives when there are not.  The sheriffs don’t even pretend there are.  And won’t be even if the pretty-pretty 180-180 program gets fully funded.
There are thousands of homeless in the county.  Is the plan to drive them all out into the rain and make them internal refugees?
I wrote more in the comments that follow this article, which is primarily window-dressing for the sheriffs and demonization of the campers, though as of yet those comments haven’t appeared (other than one brief sentence).  See http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/rss/ci_22545061?source=rss for more comments and to make your own.  Or comment on this article on the HUFF blog at http://huffsantacruz.org/wordpress/ .

Three truckloads of trash hauled from Felton campsites

By Stephen Baxter

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Posted:   02/07/2013 07:05:45 PM PST

 

FELTON — Three deputies and four Santa Cruz County Jail inmates hauled out three truckloads of trash from illegal campsites near Zayante Creek and the San Lorenzo River on Thursday.

Responding to some residents’ complaints and a pile of garbage and human waste at the Graham Hill Road Bridge over the San Lorenzo River, deputies posted notices to vacate the campsites in January.
Since then, much of the debris was removed or swept down the river with last month’s rain, sheriff’s Sgt. John Habermehl said.
Thursday, they hauled out dirty clothing, alcohol bottles, bicycle parts and a broken kayak, among other items.
“It’s not so much that somebody decided to pitch a tent,” Habermehl said. “We try to address the criminal behavior — the illegal dumping, the drug and alcohol issues, and the waste in our rivers.”
He added that the cleanups are a matter of maintenance rather than a long-term solution: “If we don’t do something about what’s out there, it’s just going to get worse.”
The action follows similar Sheriff’s Office sweeps near Highway 9 in September and by Santa Cruz police during the fall and summer of 2012.
No one was cited and no syringes or other drug paraphernalia were found on Thursday, deputies said. The inmates who participated volunteered from the Rountree Detention Center, a medium-security facility.

At a second cleanup site under the Conference Drive Bridge at Zayante Creek, deputies were

surprised to find a relatively clean area with several trash bags left by campers.

Light rain fell on the crew as it loaded food wrappers and dirty clothing into a Santa Cruz County flatbed pickup and a truck loaned by the Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center.

Don Cox, a homeless 53-year-old Air Force veteran, watched the crew work in the rain. He said he camped in the Felton area for years and noticed new people who came from Santa Cruz because of recent cleanups in that city.

“A bunch of them who’ve come down here are drug addicts and thieves,” Cox said.

Having been a mechanic and tow truck driver, he said he is trying to attend job-training classes at Cabrillo College and find a place to live with his veteran benefits.

“It’s not like I’ve chosen to be out here and be a bum,” he said. “I’m too old to be on the streets.”

“They’re really kind of picking on us,” he said of Thursday’s cleanup.

Another woman, Amanda Livingston, 22, saw the deputies and inmates work under the Graham Hill Bridge.

She said one of the men went to Santa Cruz to collect a check Thursday morning, so she scrambled to round up his gear and a bag of prescription drugs before it was removed.

“I’ve been telling him that they’re going to clear the camp,” she said. “He didn’t believe me.”

Originally from Michigan, Livingston said the bridge offered her some shelter during the rain storms earlier in the winter. She and others cooked, drank and tried to stay dry, she said.

Above the bridge, some employees at nearby businesses said they appreciated the cleanup.

“I think it’s definitely necessary but it’s pretty lame that it has to be done in the first place,” said 21-year-old Adam Pomianowski, who works at Budget Truck Rental at 6440 Graham Hill Road. “This is a river running through our little town. I’m glad someone’s paying attention.”

MORE COMMENTS at:  http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/rss/ci_22545061?source=rss

A Courageous Copwatcher Gets Trashed in Santa Cruz

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Santa Cruz Indymedia | Police State and Prisons

Officer Ahlers is a Bad Cop
by brent is found guilty
Friday Feb 1st, 2013 10:11 PM

Today I was found “guilty” of sitting on the sidewalk and ordered to pay $300.
The only problem is that I didn’t sit down….

scpd-officer-travis-ahlers_9-12-12.jpg
scpd-officer-travis-ahler…

Today I was found “guilty” of sitting on the sidewalk and ordered to pay $300.
The only problem is that I didn’t sit down until SCPD officer Travis Ahlers ordered me to sit down on the sidewalk.

I had been walking south on Pacific Ave. near the intersection of Laurel St. when I saw officer Ahlers talking to a man who was sitting on the ground. He said, “may I search your backpack?” At which point, from a distance of 10’ away I told the man that he didn’t have to allow the officer to search his belongings. “Tell him NO,” I said. Officer Ahlers turned towards me and told me to sit down and produce my ID. I asked him what the charge was and he said, “For sitting on the ground.”
“I wasn’t sitting down until you told me to sit,” I retorted. He said, “that’ll be for a judge to decide.” Later I found out that the man who was sitting down was under formal probation and was able to be legally searched even without being told before-hand. I didn’t know this when I was reminding him of his 4th Amendment right to the privacy of his person and all of his stuff. Had I known this, I would have said nothing to him.

Well today was my day in court. Since this is an infraction and wouldn’t be heard in a regular court I had commissioner Kim Baskett disqualified so that the case would be heard in a regular court and the officer would have to be sworn in. Finally, on my 5th visit to the courthouse since September on this matter the case was seen by judge Timothy Volkman. I was charged with:

9.50.012 SITTING DOWN ON SIDEWALKS IN DESIGNATED CITY ZONES.
No person shall sit upon the following enumerated portions of a public sidewalk: (b)    Within fourteen feet of any building.

The officer said that the ordinance included “squatting” and then offered to tell the judge what the dictionary definition of “squatting” was. The judge declined hearing the definition. I read the ordinance aloud to high-light that it clearly reads “No person shall sit..” The officer said that my buttocks were within 8” of my heels.

With this, the judge found me guilty of sitting on the sidewalk and ordered that I pay $300. The judge said, “this will teach you to leave the police alone while they’re conducting their business.” I said that I’m not being charged with Obstructing an officer, but instead, Sitting on the ground which I obviously didn’t do. The judge said, “I’m siding with the ‘people’ that your are guilty.”

I said that I don’t have the money… I don’t have $10 and I can’t pay. Then I said “I won’t pay. This is not justice. This is a bad cop and you’re a bad judge.” I refused a payment plan or a work program.
I then left the court when the bailiff who was escorting me out said, “If you don’t pay it’ll be twice as much.”

It is true that at the end of this frustrating hearing that I lashed out in classic Brent Adams style. I really couldn’t believe my ears when I was found guilty. Yes, it is just an infraction and yes, its just $300 but isn’t it the principle of the thing? I had not been sitting and yet I was found guilty of sitting down. It is true that I don’t have the money to pay. I will check with the clerks office and try and get on a payment plan or a work program.
I am truly frustrated.

COMMENTS

well done Brent

by V

Friday Feb 1st, 2013 11:06 PM

You did everything right at every step of the way, Brent. You took a stand when you thought you saw injustice, and you made these lying pieces of shit work hard to get you. Unfortunately and surprisingly, they pursued you all the way even despite the legal trickery (well played!) of having the ref disqualified in favor of a real judge. You made them work for this one.

You, sir, are a fighter.

by John E. Colby

Saturday Feb 2nd, 2013 2:20 AM

Brent. Your story is instructive about how little justice there is in our justice system. Unfortunately the incident wasn’t documented on video. Every Santa Cruzan should read about this so they can understand that when they step into a courtroom they are entering a rigged system. When judges and police officers flout the law with such brazen immunity, how can you expect the criminally inclined to respect the same laws, or to even respect the courts and law enforcement?

The public needs to be educated to start recall campaigns against these rogue judges who mete out injustice with impunity. Alternatively, if you can obtain a copy of the transcript for your trial as evidence of misconduct by the judge, you could send it to the news media and the Judicial Council of California to file a misconduct complaint (against this judge). If enough people mistreated by this judge do the same, eventually this judge may feel some heat.

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/02/01/18731166.php?show_comments=1#18731209

by Robert Norse

Saturday Feb 2nd, 2013 12:07 PM

THOU SHALT NOT COPWATCH
Brent got screwed because he challenged the authority of the cop by watching and commenting. He was obviously not really obstructing or interfering (or he would have been charged with that misdemeanor crime). Nor was he sitting. Leaning and squatting–according to the 2002 debates on the Sitting Ban (which specifically considered that question) rejected “leaning”, much as fashion-conscious merchants wanted to include it.

The Sitting Ban has nothing to do with obstructing the sidewalk, obstructing officers, or public safety. It has to do with obstructing poor and counterculture folks (or anyone the merchants find unsightly) and giving maximum discretion to the police so they can move people along. That’s why Measure S was recently defeated in Berkeley. The Berkeley service providers, three members of the Berkeley City Council and the local ACLU mobilized against it.

Of course, we haven’t heard a peep from Ken Cole (head of the Housing Authority), nor Monica Martinez (Executive Director of the Homeless Lack of Services Center), nor the local ACLU, nor–of course–any City Council members. Our City Council unanimously voted to increase the penalties and scope of the Ban in 2009.

Copwatching is legal and important. I spoke with two observers who witnessed the entire “trial”. Judge Volkman reported reprimanded Adams for his copwatching activity, suggesting it was a “lesson” for him. If “shut up, close your eyes, and keep moving” is the lesson, I suggest we fire the teacher.

BANNING CUSTOMARY AND PRESUMABLY FIRST AMENDMENT-PROTECTED ACTIVITY
The current Sitting Ban (so-called since it bans sitting in 90% of the sidewalk in business, downtown, and beach districts) is a nasty ordinance which has never had a real constitutional challenge (as Berkeley’s did).

9.50.012 Sitting Down on Sidewalks in Designated City Zones: In the C-C community commercial, C-N neighborhood commercial, C-B commercial beach, CBD central business district, and R-T tourist residential zoning districts, no person shall sit upon the following enumerated portions of a public sidewalk: (a) At any bus stop; (b) Within fourteen feet of any building. Where any portion of a building is recessed from the public sidewalk, the fourteen feet shall be measured from the point at which the building abuts the sidewalk; (c) Within fifty feet of any ATM machine or cash disbursal machine, or any other outdoor machine or device which disburses or accepts coins or paper currency except parking meters and newspaper vending machines; (d) Within fourteen feet of any fence that abuts a public sidewalk; (e) Within fourteen feet of any drinking fountain, public telephone, public bench, public trash compactor, information or directory/map sign, sculpture or artwork displayed on public property, or vending cart; (f) Within fourteen feet of any street corner or intersection; (g) Within fourteen feet of any open air dining area or cafe extension; or (h) Within fourteen feet of any kiosk.

Since most sidewalks are 10′ wide in all other places than Pacific Ave, this simply bans sitting where there are buildings–period. It’s designed to “clear away the riffraff” and give us the Shopping Mall look. The latest 2009 twist was to include “sculptures” and “directory signs” as creators of 14′ forbidden zones. As well as increasing penalties on “unattended” tickets to create both (a) a new misdemeanor crime (MC 4.04.015) and (b) the right to charge every subsequent infraction crime, no matter how petty or irrelevant as a misdemeanor ((MC 4.04.010(4)).

TICKETS WITHOUT WARNING
Other ordinances that involve the creation of “forbidden” zones have warning provisions. Benches, for instance, have a ridiculous 1-hour restriction.

On those benches that still remain that is–three have recently been removed on Cooper St., perhaps at the behest of the noxious Nextspace, a Coonerty-founded business.

For instance 9.50.12, Sitting down on Public Benches in Designated Zones, which forbids you to “sit down upon or otherwise occupy a public bench or use a public bench to store property for more than a total of one hour during any given twelve-hour period” has a second provision that “No person shall be cited under this section unless he or she has first been notified by a police officer, public officer or downtown host that he or she is in violation of the prohibition in this section, and thereafter continues the violation.”

Not so with the Sitting Ban.

MORE ON THE LAWLESS LAWS AND ABUSIVE COPS
For more fun fuck-you-over ordinances, check out “Deadly Downtown Ordinances–Update” at http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/29/18657087.php .

For another account of the fun-loving Officer Ahlers, see “Selective Enforcement and Harassment by Santa Cruz Police on Pacific Avenue” at http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/09/13/18721560.php

RESTORING THE CONSTITUTION
Since we have a hopeless City Council, responding to the agenda of Take Back Santa Cruz, the SCPD, the SC Neighbors, and the DTA, I’ve fond the best response is to do what Brent tried to do: point out the abusive behavior of the police, hosts, and private security thugs.

When you do this, I suggest you address passersby, keep at least 10′ away from the incident. Take a step back if asked. Document what you’re doing with a phonevid or some other device, and try to have a second witness with you. Often cops will stop and park their running squad cars in the middle of the street to deal with the “emergency” of a “criminal sitter”.

Alerting the public walking by to this has often, I’ve found, shortened the police action and encouraged them to move on to more sensible priorities.

It’s also quite appropriate to fine a formal Internal Affairs Complaint with the Professional Standards Unit of the SCPD or contact the City’s so-called “Independent” Police Auditor with your concerns. You don’t have to be the target of the abuse. You just have to witness what you felt was wasteful, abusive, or uncalled-for police behavior.

FILING A COMPLAINT
An on-line form to fill out when you witness or experience abusive behavior of any kind from the SCPD can be found at http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=9334 . Just make sure you check #5 at the end, indicating it’s a “complaint” and not a “Comment” or any of the other classifications that are essentially irrelevant.

Robert H. Aaronson is the auditor. He wanders in occasionally from his roost in Palo Alto to collect 20Gs a year or more, never bothering to issue a written report that I’ve heard about. Still it makes a record–and that can count later for others who want to make Pitchess Motions in court challenging an officer’s credibility or violent behavior in a future case. Aaronson’s e-mail is not given, but is on the City website as a form at http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/index.aspx?page=983 .His phone is given as 650-565-8800.

Again–the purpose of these is not to expect any kind of justice or accountability. Rather to simply make a record. If you do complain to either Aaronson or the SCPD, please post a copy on line as well.

OTHER COMMENTS CAN BE FOUND AT http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/02/01/18731166.php?show_comments=1#18731183

Council Committee Forwards Bag of Bigotry to Full Council to Rubberstamp What SCPD is Doing Anyway

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http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/01/29/18730942.php?show_comments=1#18731013

  on the Public Safety Committee meeting of Tuesday Night by Robert Norse  (See web story above)

Wednesday Jan 30th, 2013 9:13 AM

I spent half my time outside the meeting interviewing folks–interviews to be played Thursday 6-8 PM (some of them anyway).

So I missed the final vote, but it seems from the (often questionable) coverage of the Sentinel that not only did the Public Safety Committee rubberstamp the staff’s homeless-hostile and “more cops, less sanity” hysteria-happy agenda, but the City Attorney on secret vote from the Council

I assume the vote was unanimous, though I won’t be sure until I speak with others who were in the room when it was taken (or when I play the tape on Thursday evening and/or Sunday morning).

Quite slimey was the secrecy of the Committee and other members of the Council (like Micah Posner) who didn’t mention the key fact that the Council directed Posner in closed session to shut down a residential needle exchange site. I assume no one in the crowd was aware of it–though it happened yesterday according to the following Sentinel article.

This kind of “creeping criminalization”, which sounds like it’s out of the playbook of Deputy-Chief Steve Clark, and may be a form of abusive “reefer madness”-style Drug Warrioring which is a real step backwards.

I regret that indybay chose to remove a comment critical of me, whose author was straightforward enough to give his name. I encourage those who are not just trolling, but seriously in dispute, to leave comments on the HUFF website under the comment sections at http://www.huffsantacruz.org .

I also appreciate the support from those who like my reporting.

It’s true I mix opinion and fact in my commentaries–but I don’t hide that fact and don’t apologize for it either. Someday when I grow more skillful (probably never), I may be able to use the “facts speak for themselves” approach.. Trouble is that I feel so strongly about my conclusions, that I always have to stick them in, if not lead with them. Still I think these articles are helpful.

The Sentinel story is at http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_22478511/santa-cruz-shuts-down-longtime-needle-exchange-site

Santa Cruz Food Not Bombs Returning to Post Office In Spite of Past Police Surveillance & Threats

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With possibly rainy weather this Saturday and to because those who eat its meals have come to expect it at the Main Post Office, Food Not Bombs is reportedly planning to return to serve its 4 PM meal under the eaves of the Main Post Office (but out of the way of the entrance).

Police have appeared several times as well as a postal employee unhappy with their presence there.   Though I’m in no way a spokesperson for the local Food Not Bombs, I believe the information in the posting below is correct and urge people to show up there to offer support whether as servers, future food preparers, food donators, reporters, witnesses, or just plain sympathizers.

Speaking for myself, it’s important that people feel entitled to use the public space in ways that benefit the community.  This includes those putting out a political message against the criminalization of poverty and the militarization of the country (Bombs Not Food).  In the past earlier incarnations of Food Not Bombs in Santa Cruz have doggedly stood for those principles, and it’s my understanding that the current group shares these sympathies.

Coming to this feeding in no way commits one to any kind of civil disobedience or confrontation with authorities.   Nor does it exclude  that possibility.  But the more people who  are willing to cook, feed, witness, and eat, the less likely authorities are to try to repress this movement.

Robert Norse

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/01/24/18730745.php

Title: Food Not Bombs To Serve at the Post Office This Saturday
START DATE: Saturday January 26
TIME: 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Location Details:
On the steps of the Main Post Office in downtown Santa Cruz where Pacific, Front, Mission, etc. intersect.
Event Type: Other
Food Not Bombs serves weekly every Saturday with what I understand is both a political message and a damn good meal.

In recent weeks police have arrived with the apparent intention of pressing the group to move.

Food Not Bombs met last night and will be serving there again this week.

I am not a spokesperson for Food Not Bombs, but an interested member of the community.

Those interested in joining Food not Bombs, helping to cook or serve should check their Facebook webpage: Santa Cruz Food Not Bombs.

Food Not Bombs encourages supporters to come to their meals.

I think it’s particularly important at this crucial juncture. It would likely be helpful also to bring cameras, video and audio recorders, and friends.

Food Not Bombs needs folks to cook and serve as well as publicize the meal.

To read more about the recent behavior of the police and postmaster around the weekly Food Not Bombs meal go to
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/01/19/18730563.php .

Police and Postal Bureaucrats Crack Down on Food Not Bombs in Santa Cruz

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Today at the Meal

by Robert Norse  Sunday Jan 27th, 2013 12:00 AM

POLICE AND POSTAL OFFICIALS DEMAND FNB MOVE OFF “POST OFFICE” PROPERTY
Briefly, two SCPD officers and two postal officials approached the group and demanded they move off the post office property, while proclaiming “concern and appreciation” for the feeding of homeless people. After initially trying to continue feeding at the original location under the eaves of the post office, the FNB workers picked up their tables and moved to the sidewalk.

I recorded some of the interaction between officials and FNB workers. I’ll be playing that tape tomorrow on Free Radio Santa Cruz at 10 AM ( http://tunein.com/radio/FRSC-s47254/ or 101.3 FM). The show will archive at http://www.radiolibre.org/brb/brb130127.mp3–about 2 1/2 hours into the audio. Call-in at 427-3772.

At the request of FNB workers, Steve Pleich took a leading role in facilitating the withdrawal of FNB from the post office steps to the sidewalk where it continued to feed without further molestation. Officials rejected my request to know the full name of the individual demanding we move and of his superior’s name. Police sergeant D. Forbas kept trying to shield his conversation with Pleich from the listening ears of my recorder and refused to answer questions which I put to him afterwards.

VICTORY,SETBACK,OR BOTH?
Some considered the day’s actions a success–with the meal continuing to be fed, folks continuing to sit on the steps of the post office and eat. Others wondered if this were the first step in a campaign to drive FNB from visible feeding in the downtown. The Food Not Bombs banner was visible, but I didn’t notice any literature present–the group willing for the moment to give up the right to serve and distribute literature in the unused area they had been at for the previous six weeks under threat of trespass arrest.

While the postal inspector insisted that the group was “violating federal regulations”, he declined to say which regulations except for vague claims that FNB was “conducting business”. The claim that FNB was violating the state trespass code seemed a strange one since the area is open to the general public.

THE ISSUES INVOLVED
Food Not Bombs groups in other cities has insisted that it is not simply a charitable organization serving food, but one presenting a clear message (with literature and banners). Such was an earlier FNB message in Santa Cruz in the late 80’s and mid-90’s when Santa Cruz FNB fed in different spots.

FNB workers and some supporters noted that FNB had only moved 20-30 feet, that it was not being told to disperse, that it would continue to “make poverty visible” and feed poor and homeless people, and address further hostile police actions if they arose as they arose.

Similar threats used against Occupy Santa Cruz [OSC] when it was in front of the courthouse in the fall of 2011 resulted in some citations and arrests, but no charges ultimately in court under the trespass code used to intimidate FNB workers today.

Unlike FNB activists decades before OSC activists did not return to reclaim the space in front of the courthouse once threatened with arrest. However, unlike the earlier attack on FNB in Santa Cruz and San Francisco which demanded the groups cease serving food altogether because they “didn’t have a permit”, the current attack so far is only limited to the post office grounds and supposedly has to do with location rather than food serving itself.

For some of the events in the history of the FNB movement, go to http://foodnotbombs.net/fnb_time_line.html .

FOOD SERVER HARASSMENT ELSEWHERE
However, a church group feeding in front of Forever Twenty-One on Thursday afternoon was reportedly the target of SCPD police action against clients sitting within 14′ of buildings.

Ronee and Scott Curry, who regularly conduct Sunday lunch on Pacific Avenue at Soquel and Pacific have experienced some harassment either directly under the “move every hour” ordinance or of their clients hassled for “sitting down”.

Father Joel Miller of the Calvary Episcopal Church experienced a strong attack from former Mayor (and recently reelected City Council member) Cynthia Mathews for his once-a-week Monday dinner at the Red Church, across from Matthew’s historic property (located between the Nickelodeon and Jack’s Hamburgers).

Pastor Dennis Adams was driven away from the downtown by merchant and police hostility several years ago, now doing his meal out at the Homeless (Lack of ) Services Center.

UPCOMING AND INAUSPICIOUS
On Tuesday the Santa Cruz City Council’s Public Safety Committee will be meeting 6 PM in City Council chambers to consider a further crackdown on homeless people among other “safety measures”. Agenda: http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/index.aspx?recordid=4709&page=440 . Staff report: http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=30533 .

DISCLAIMER
The opinions expressed here are my own and do not represent those of Santa Cruz Food Not Bombs as an organization, nor necessarily the views of any of the individuals associated with it.

by Robert Norse

Sunday Jan 27th, 2013 12:03 AM

The FNB meal began around 4 PM Saturday January 26th and was immediately approached by police. Workers moved the meal to the sidewalk within 20 minutes after police and postal officials began their threats. It continued for 1 1/2 to 2 hours on the sidewalk.

FNB is looking for volunteers and can be reached via its Santa Cruz Food Not Bombs facebook page.

Sarasota’s ACLU claims police target homeless; refer to themselves as ‘Bum hunters’

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NOTE FROM NORSE:  Santa Cruz’s Police Chief Kevin Vogel strode around with four stars on his uniform in full regalia at the “Smart Solutions” Homelessness Summit Saturday,   When not dolled up, he presided over six months of intensified crackdown on homeless people’s camps, property, and liberty–in a city that has shelter for less than 5% of its homeless, as well as making 200 people homeless on December 8th last year with a full-scale attack on a homeless campground, for which he offered no substitute.

He has colluded in creating felony prosecutions for homeless activists, reporters, and supporters of the Occupy Santa Cruz movement–some of  whom dared with hundreds of others to walk through a vacant Wells Fargo bank building which was being temporarily occupied to create a Community Center last year.

Also at the “Homeless Summit” was D.A. Bob Lee who has pressed charges against the Santa Cruz Eleven for “aiding and abetting” the occupation there–they face 7 years in prison each (charges against 4 have been dismissed and not yet refiled).

The Santa Cruz ACLU, while criticizing (rather weakly) the SC-11 prosecutions, has said not a word about the crackdown on homeless people, the creation of curfew zones around the courthouse, county building, city hall, library, and police station, the attacks on food server and street performers, and the city wide Sleeping Ban.

Even activist Steve Pleich, who founded (and largely constitutes) the Homeless Legal Assistance Project and sits as vice-chair of the ACLU has not chosen to raise these issues, brought to the ACLU Board of Directors repeatedly by myself and others.

Other ACLU’s in California have undertaken lawsuits against these practices.  Santa Cruz can’t even get its ACLU to make a simple verbal statement.

Sarasota’s ACLU claims police target homeless; refer to themselves as ‘Bum hunters’

6:07 PM, Nov 27, 2012   |

Sarasota, Florida-  The ACLU claims the City of Sarasota is at war with the homeless. ACLU attorney Michael Barfield claims there is a culture of contempt and abuse of Sarasota’s homeless by the police department.

According to attorneys, arrests of homeless individuals sleeping outside are up to 111 between January and September compared to just four last year.

Barfield says, “We ask appointed and elected city leaders to end the city’s war on the homeless.”

From the front lawn of Sarasota City Hall, ACLU representatives say there is a pattern- a culture of harassment of the homeless within the Sarasota Police Department.

“Internal police text messages reveal a practice of targeting the homeless. Some refer to it as ‘bum hunting,” says Barfield.

The ACLU released electronic messages from August where a police officer allegedly text another officer, “I’m the Bum Hunter tonight.”

In September one officer appears to ask another “Can you check Island Park for transients? Cite them city code if found.”

Transcripts also show an officer joking about dressing up like a “bum” with wig and a bottle of rum.

Captain Paul Sutton with the Sarasota Police Department says he had not heard about these texts until today’s press conference.

“It is unacceptable behavior. I can tell you the Sarasota Police Department does not hunt homeless people, in fact we do the opposite. We provide services to homeless people.”

Police officials say since 2004 they’ve helped more than 2,500 homeless- either as crime victims or with provided services for drug abuse, mental health or housing.

City Manager Tom Barwin says these are isolated comments that are being exploited by the ACLU.  Barwin adds the ACLU never notified city officials of the press conference until 10 minutes before it started.

“To set the record straight, for those who don’t know this community raised millions of dollars, 10 million to address homeless needs,” says Barwin.

He listed the Salvation Army where the homeless can get a meal, a place to sleep, a shower and receive substance abuse treatment as an example. He also lists the Resurrection Home that provides laundry and meals.

A few homeless attended the press conference with their own suggestions.

“Why call me a bum unless you try to give me a job,” says James Franklin, Jr.

Cindy Edlund would like to see more services targeting substance abuse. She says, “Let’s work on prevention; there’s been a stalemate.”

Sarasota’s city manager challenges the ACLU to raise half a million dollars to help with the homeless substance abuse problem and come to the table with solutions instead of more litigation.

The ACLU is in the middle of a class action suit against the City for their alleged use of its trespassing ordinance to single out the homeless.

Isabel Mascarenas

HEAR MORE AT http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/article/284302/8/Sarasotas-ACLU-claims-police-target-homeless-

Deputies clear illegal camps near Hwy. 9, Pogonip

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By Stephen Baxter – Santa Cruz Sentinel – 09/14/2012

 

Sheriff’s deputy Damon Hancock posts a notice to vacate in an illegal… (Dan Coyro/Sentinel)

SANTA CRUZ — After a Santa Cruz police project to clear out trash and illegal campsites this summer, sheriff’s deputies have started similar work along Highway 9 and other county areas.

In the past four weeks, deputies have focused on an area next to Highway 9 that includes private property and the edge of the Pogonip. More than a dozen campsites have been identified off its dirt trails. Deputies have worked with Santa Cruz police and park rangers because Pogonip is within Santa Cruz city limits.

After deputies posted notices to vacate the camps and pack their trash, nearly all the campers left. Friday, deputies posted notices at a few remaining active campsites and talked about the problem.

“This is encouraging. These are all people that have been warned and (their sites) are empty. But they’ve abandoned all their stuff,” said Sgt. Mitch Medina.

Some of the transients cleaned up their own mess by piling more than 25 trash bags under a train trestle at Highway 9, deputies said.

At perhaps a dozen other sites, there were strewn fast-food wrappers, dirty clothes, shoes and all kinds of other garbage.

Authorities said they wanted the property owner to pay for some of the trash removal. Deputies also were hammering out an agreement with Roaring Camp Railroads to haul some of it out by train. Train tracks run next to some of the sites near Highway 9.

As did Santa Cruz police, deputies who encountered the homeless have handed out business cards with information about shelters and other services. Also similar to police, deputies acknowledged that dismantling the camps was not a long-term solution to homeless problems in the county. Many of the campers they encountered had been kicked out of Santa Cruz, deputies said.

Still, they said the project was valuable because it protected residents’ property, reduced fire risks and cleaned up the environment.

“If we did nothing, the problem would just grow,” said deputy Daren Kerr, who has been working on the project.

The risk of wildfires is real, added Heather Reiter, chief ranger for the Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Department.

About a month ago, a transient camped along the train tracks near Highway 9 told authorities that he accidentally started a fire. The blaze destroyed his camp but was contained quickly by firefighters.

“He said it originated in his cooking area,” Reiter said.

A separate fire that started at the base of a tree in the Pogonip in May was traced to a transient, Santa Cruz firefighters reported.

Deputies said they planned to continue the project for at least the next few months.

“We’re hoping with the help of the press, we’ll identify more sites,” said deputy April Skalland.

She asked residents who spot illegal campsites call 454-2440 and leave a message describing the location.

Earlier in the summer, deputies said they cleaned out a creek bed behind Emeline Street and Emeline Avenue. Working with County Jail inmates, authorities collected two Dumpsters worth of garbage, Kerr said.

One man also was arrested for two outstanding warrants and on suspicion of drug paraphernalia possession after he was caught with 30 uncapped syringes, said Kerr.

Friday, deputies did not cite or arrest anyone at the site near Highway 9. But they warned a 42-year-old woman to clear out her campsite near the trestle.

She had a tent pitched and a pit bull tied to a tree. Deputies told her she had 72 hours to leave or she would be ticketed for illegal lodging without the property owner’s permission.

The woman said she probably would stay with her mother, but she could not go to a shelter because she was taking care of the dog — which is not allowed in the Homeless Services Center in Santa Cruz.

Like some of the other transients that deputies encountered, she said she did not want to stay at a shelter.

“You gotta be in by 7, you can’t watch TV. I might as well be out here where I’m free,” she said.

She said she was particularly vulnerable as a homeless woman, and asked not to be named because she feared an ex-boyfriend. Once, while she slept, another man tried to stab her with a heroin-loaded syringe. She now carries a knife for protection.

“I wish I had some money and some food,” she said. “I’m stuck here.”

Big SoMa homeless camp cleaned out

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Kevin Fagan
SF Chronicle – Tuesday, August 28, 2012

To most people, the giant homeless encampment at Fifth and King streets was invisible. At most, some could catch a glimpse of tents from the Interstate 280 on-ramp, or from a railcar pulling into the nearby Caltrain station.

But nearby residents and shopkeepers knew exactly what was under that I-280 on-ramp – a sprawling mini-city of tents, suitcases and makeshift Conestoga wagon-style trailers, and a 50-strong homeless population that had been there for years. It was the biggest street camp in San Francisco.

Until Tuesday, that is.

At 8 a.m., an army of police officers, city cleaning crews and street counselors descended on the block-long settlement, and by noon tons of clothing, tents, boxes and trash had been cleared out, either to city storage lockers or disposal bins. City workers said that by Wednesday evening they hope to have it cleared down to bare dirt for the first time in at least three years.

The cleanup was a dirty, complex job. Several campers were methamphetamine addicts, forcing crews to use grabbing tools to pick up used needles before it was safe to clear smaller garbage.

“This camp has always been a real mess,” said California Highway Patrol Officer Sarah Wrathall, watching workers with breathing masks sort debris. “There’s a lot of rats, a lot of excrement, a lot of waste.”

City homeless outreach counselors, meanwhile, waded into the crowd. By the end of the day, they had gotten 10 people into temporary housing and on track for permanent supportive residences.

“I can’t believe I get to live inside again,” said Brenda Clark, 48, sitting by her chest-high mound of belongings and waiting for a van to take her to a city-funded residential hotel room. “I got evicted from my last hotel in April, and I didn’t know where to go, so I wound up here.

“I can’t wait to have a real shower,” she said with a toothless smile.

Bevan Dufty, point person on homelessness for Mayor Ed Lee, said the ultimate goal of the joint effort by the various agencies that carried out Tuesday’s clearance was not just to bounce street people down the block to make the area prettier.

“Our objective is to go in and start engaging,” he said. “I have enormous faith in the outreach team, and we will be going back again and again to that spot to help people with housing and services.”

Dufty said he was encouraged that this month, the Board of Supervisors allocated an extra $3 million for homeless shelter, housing and counseling.

The camp has been regularly visited for years by city police, CHP officers including Wrathall, street counselors and officials of the California Department of Transportation – which owns the on-ramp – and partially cleared out every month.

But lately it had grown to include a community garden, a bucketful of dead rats and a fire pit for melting rubber off salvaged or stolen wiring to sell for recycling. The various agencies determined it was time to move in.

Because campers tore out thousands of dollars of cyclone fencing under the on-ramp to set up tents, Caltrans’ plan is now to install a more durable barrier to try to keep them out. That fence will probably cost about $200,000, said Caltrans spokesman Steve Williams – but even then, the agency knows campers will be back.

“You clean it out today, and they’ll back tomorrow,” he said. “We’re just trying to remediate the problem as best we can.”

Jennifer Friedenbach, director of the Coalition on Homelessness, said that until the city has enough housing to readily supply to every homeless person, clearing out camps is just harassment.

“There’s no point to it,” she said. “With nowhere to go, all you’re doing is dispersing people.”

“I’m sleeping here tonight as soon as these guys leave,” said Tasha Ward, 21. “They’ve got too many restrictions inside, and I want to do my meth and mind my own business.”

More homeless camps cleared in Santa Cruz

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by Stephen Baxter
Santa Cruz Sentinel 08/08/2012

SANTA CRUZ – Santa Cruz police cleared out 15 illegal campsites and arrested 20 people in the fourth week of a program aimed at reducing homeless camps.

Officers also issued 67 tickets for illegal camping and related charges from July 29 to Aug. 4.

Police spokesman Zach Friend said the arrests were mainly for drug charges, including one case of suspected meth sales. Another person was arrested on suspicion of possession of stolen property.

Twenty-nine camps were posted with warnings to vacate, police said.

Resident complaints have fueled the campaign, as well as concerns of poor sanitation, environmental problems and recent fires related to the camps. Friend said many of the camps are hideouts for criminal activity.

Since the project began in July, police have posted 115 notices to leave and dismantled 42 campsites. They also have issued 245 citations and made 70 arrests.

Santa Cruz police ask residents to report illegal campsites by calling 420-5892.