{"id":881,"date":"2013-04-10T04:40:15","date_gmt":"2013-04-10T04:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/?p=881"},"modified":"2013-04-18T04:41:19","modified_gmt":"2013-04-18T04:41:19","slug":"kansas-city-homeless-cant-even-hide-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/kansas-city-homeless-cant-even-hide-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Kansas City Homeless Can&#8217;t Even Hide Out"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<h1><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">NOTE BY NORSE:\u00a0 <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">This story headlines the usual anti-homeless bias when media tails the polic<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">e department in its &#8220;clean-up&#8221;s<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">.\u00a0 <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">For more dialogue and discussion, go to the <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">tv<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">\/audio attached and<span style=\"font-size: medium;\"> more relevant <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">extensive comments that can be found <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">fo<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">llowing the article at <a href=\"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/blogs\/sideshow\/police-discover-hidden-underground-tunnels-used-homeless-221637268.html\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/blogs\/<wbr>sideshow\/police-discover-<wbr>hidden-underground-tunnels-<wbr>used-homeless-221637268.html<\/wbr><\/wbr><\/wbr><\/a> .<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Sa<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">nta Cruz ho<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">meless activists distributed several hundred &#8220;<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Empty Buildings Are the Crime&#8221; stickers at the Project Homeless Connect event yesterday here; meanwhile across the street the Santa Cruz City Council threw more money (ano<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">ther <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">quarter million dollars in promised bonus recruitment payments) <\/span><\/span>at the police department<span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 This in a city with no documented rise in crime, simply a form of police-pandering hysteria after the .<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">shooting of two SCPD cop<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">s.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">De<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">puty Steve Clark of the <\/span>Santa Cruz PD <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">absurdly claims that 1\/<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">3 of the crimes in Santa Cruz <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">is committed by homeless people.<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 If true, of course, it shows how police are being used as a private security force to criminalize homeless people <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">in public spaces at the behest of the <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">merchants and conservative hate groups.\u00a0 A recent Public Records Act request seeking the specifics behind Clark&#8217;s venomous <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">statement has still gone unanswered here.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Clark&#8217;s long-time hostility to the local needle exchange program bore toxic fruit a month <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">two months ago when City Council met behind closed doors and shut down the only needle exchange program in the City Limits.\u00a0\u00a0 A <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">less accessible more distant and hence less effective county <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">agency<span style=\"font-size: medium;\"> w<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">hich demands documentation from <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">those using needle exchange <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">in a self-defeating move, has taken over the program.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Clark has recently been reported verbally as<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">saulting and demeaning homeless people <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">to discourage their presence <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">at public buildings and in public places if they speak up for their rights.\u00a0 When recently criticized in a Starbucks re<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">staurant by a homeless person nearby, he r<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">eportedly <\/span>imperiously (and successfully) demanded the man leave with an implicit threat of arrest.<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">\u00a0 Ironically, Clark&#8217;s mentality is what is driving ho<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">meless people &#8220;underground&#8221;, out<span style=\"font-size: medium;\"> of sight, and out of town.\u00a0 Which is the point, of course, of th<span style=\"font-size: medium;\">is kind of <span style=\"font-size: medium;\">hate crime.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Treating the homeless need to hide underground as some sort of bizarre and amusing curiosity or a public health hazard when the city offers no alternatives is a kind of fascist doublethink which is a curious obscenity all its own.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1><\/h1>\n<h1>Police discover hidden underground tunnels used by the homeless<\/h1>\n<div>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/l1.yimg.com\/bt\/api\/res\/1.2\/WV5_Zo2cuKGAO7Cz1ifx4g--\/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTQwO3E9ODU7dz00MA--\/http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/os\/152\/2011\/11\/15\/pfeiffer-40x40_001209.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><cite>By <a href=\"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/blogs\/author\/eric-pfeiffer\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Eric Pfeiffer, Yahoo! News<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/blogs\/sideshow\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">The Sideshow<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/cite><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>During a routine crime investigation, Kansas City police discovered <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kmbc.com\/news\/kansas-city\/KCPD-uncovers-subterranean-suburb-on-northeast-side\/-\/11664182\/19637828\/-\/item\/0\/-\/11hg5sh\/-\/index.html\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">a series of underground dirt tunnels being used by the city\u2019s homeless<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Local affiliate KMBC was on hand for the discovery when newscasters accompanied Kansas City Police<\/p>\n<p>Officer Jason Cooley, who was leading an investigation of stolen copper wiring from a nearby grain mill.<\/p>\n<p>While checking on the seemingly ordinary homeless campsites, Cooley discovered a series of tunnels that went several feet under the earth and stretched nearly 25 feet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was kind of in a little hill and probably four feet beneath the surface,\u201d Cooley told the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kansascity.com\/2013\/04\/05\/4164931\/underground-homeless-camp-cleared.html\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Kansas City Star<\/a>.<br \/>\nHope Faith Ministries, a local homeless organization, said the group had never seen anything like it. Carla Brewer was on site from the organization, offering the homeless individuals a place to shower and sleep away from the camp.<\/p>\n<p>Police said they were especially concerned about a pile of dirty diapers discovered next to one of the underground tunnels.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re working to find out if, in fact, they&#8217;ve got kids down here, because this is not a safe environment for that,&#8221; Cooley said.<\/p>\n<p>The tunnels <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kmbc.com\/news\/kansas-city\/-\/11664182\/19639312\/-\/vmuilx\/-\/index.html\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">appear expertly crafted<\/a> and obviously required a substantial amount of time and effort to create. In fact, authorities said they aren\u2019t exactly sure how the individuals squatting at the site were able to create them.<\/p>\n<p>After discovering the tunnels, a police robot was used to further investigate the underground dwellings.<\/p>\n<p>Once police were able to confirm no one was inside them, they brought in a tractor to fill in the tunnels.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NOTE BY NORSE:\u00a0 This story headlines the usual anti-homeless bias when media tails the police department in its &#8220;clean-up&#8221;s.\u00a0 For more dialogue and discussion, go to the tv\/audio attached and more relevant extensive comments that can be found following the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/kansas-city-homeless-cant-even-hide-out\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[56,58],"tags":[3,64],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":882,"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881\/revisions\/882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huffsantacruz.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}