‘Tough love’ for homeless: How Fresno leaders will enforce new no-camping law
Fresno leaders say they will strictly enforce a new law banning homeless encampments or loitering on public land, which could mean jail time for offenders if they refuse offers for shelter or treatment services.
The anti-camping ordinance, approved in August by the Fresno City Council , prohibits sleeping or camping in any pedestrian or vehicle entrance to public or private property along a public sidewalk. Another provision states that "no person may sit, lie, sleep or camp on a property designated as a sensitive use," including schools, child-care facilities, parks, libraries, government buildings, warming or cooling centers, or existing homeless shelters.
City leaders said they would employ a "treatment first" strategy to enforce the new law, which took effect Monday, and offer people living on the street who face incarceration the option of accepting shelter and treatment services., instead.
Those determined by police to be in violation of the law can be charged with a misdemeanor crime and face a $1,000 fine or up to one year in the Fresno County Jail if they refuse to move themselves and their belongings.
But Mayor Jerry Dyer and City Council members said the city aims to offer assistance in lieu of arrest – emergency shelter on rare occasions when those facilities have available beds, or mental health or drug treatment services – to those willing to accept it.
A 'tough love' approach
"We're not trying to be ... out there arresting people and taking away their freedoms and being unmerciful," Dyer told reporters Monday in a press conference. "Just the opposite. We want to help people, but in order to help people, sometimes there has to be some tough love, and that's what we're trying to incorporate here."
"The ordinance gives us the ability to actually physically take custody of a person if they choose not to accept services or shelter," Dyer said. "At that point in time, oftentimes they they may choose a different path. Do you want to go to jail? Or would you like to go to a treatment program? And it is amazing how many people at that point have an awakening moment and decide, 'I will seek out treatment versus going to jail.'"
The city currently has 840 beds in emergency homeless shelters, of which Dyer said an average of five or six people rotate out each day. By contrast, the latest official estimate of homelessness in Fresno in 2023 was 3,207 people, including more than 1,800 unsheltered.
Dyer acknowledged the imbalance between the number of homeless in the city and the volume of shelter beds and other services available.
"There are folks out there that we definitely know want shelter and we haven't been able to provide that to them," he said.
In addition to emergency shelters established at former motels in different parts of the city using state funds, Dyer said the city deploys a pair of mobile showers that rotate through locations across Fresno for homeless people to use. The city also partners with the University of California San Francisco medical school program in Fresno to operate a mobile health clinic that provides health screenings, flu shots, medications and other services.
The city also works with nonprofits such as the Fresno Mission , the Poverello House and other service providers.
"But even with all these efforts, about 30% of the unsheltered population continue to refuse to accept services, and many of them are uncooperative and, in many cases, defiant and continue to occupy public spaces in violation of the ordinance," Dyer said.
Fresno Police Chief Mindy Casto said patrol officers who routinely handle calls for service, including businesses' complaints about homeless people blocking their sidewalks and driveways, have received training on how to enforce the new ordinance.
Casto said officers are expected to enforce the anti-camping ordinance.
"It's to be less tolerant of individuals who are causing problems to our law-abiding citizens and businesses, but to also provide compassion and a chance for them to change their lives, if that's what they so desire to do," Casto told reporters.
Treatment as an option to jail
Under the city's "treatment first" approach, police officers and outreach workers who encounter people in violation of the no-camping ordinance will prioritize the continued offering of services. The city will focus its enforcement of the new law on sensitive areas like schools, parks and near existing homeless shelters. If a person is cooperative and agrees to move along, and they are not a habitual violator of the anti-camping law, they'll be allowed to go about their business.
If they are seen to be a danger to themselves or others, police can be take violators into custody and hospitalize them on a temporary psychiatric hold for treatment. Officers can arrest someone if they defy their instructions to move along or are a repeat offender.
An arrest does not automatically mean someone would be booked into the local jail. Dyer said an offender could opt to accept drug treatment services instead of jail. The police report for the arrest would be put on hold and discarded if the person completes a treatment program.
City Councilmembers Tyler Maxwell and Garry Bredefeld reiterated the city's commitment to offer services for the homeless.
"We absolutely want to help those people who are homeless, and we truly want to help them to change their lives and their lifestyle," Bredefeld said. "There's plenty of help available in the city. We'll do everything we can to assist those people, just like we've been doing for many years."
Maxwell said the city and its various nonprofits can come up with creative ways to provide treatment, "and if it takes more than one time going through the cycle, we understand that – we will still be there to help you if you seek the city's help."
For those who forego assistance from the city, however, "I hope that you will find help somewhere because our children's parks and our local small businesses will no longer be available to you," Maxwell said.
Councilmember Miguel Arias said he sees people on the streets in his south and southwest Fresno district who are using drugs near bus stops, parks, schools and neighborhoods.
"I see quite a bit of them are not ready, willing or able to seek the help that they need," Arias said. "This, in my view, is their last chance to accept the city's help for drug treatment. If not, you should be expecting to experience your withdrawal symptoms in the county jail. Enough is enough."
This story was originally published September 23, 2024, 5:42 PM.
