Latest news with #illegalcamping
CBS News
5 days ago
- Health
- CBS News
San Francisco's aggressive push to get more unhoused people off city streets
San Francisco — One day in May, Reily was the latest unhoused person in San Francisco to be caught up in the city's year-long aggressive enforcement tactics. Involved in the arrest was San Francisco police Sgt. Dennis Hoang, the department's homeless unit supervisor. "I asked Reily how many times they've been cited for illegal lodging, and they times," Hoang told CBS News. "We're at a point where we are no longer tolerating chronic illegal behavior." In mid-2024, San Francisco began more targeted sweeps of homeless encampments across the city in an effort to address its homeless crisis. "These public sidewalks are for the public," Hoang said. "And, unfortunately, it's not a place for people to store their personal belongings." Between June of 2024 and June of this year, nearly 1,000 people have been arrested or cited for illegal camping in San Francisco, according to city data, but few are ever charged. "I'm going to get kicked out of the shelter," Reily told CBS News. "I'm going to come back on the street. I'm going to get cited again, it's a broken system." Unhoused people who spoke to CBS News said some of the shelters do not fit their needs for a variety of reasons, such as dormitory-style housing that requires having roommates, no storage for personal possessions and no pets allowed. Arrests are a last resort, conducted only if the person repeatedly ignores citations and refuses the city's multiple offers of shelter and services. The city's efforts seem to have paid off with visible results. Nearly half of the 8,000 homeless that live in San Francisco are sheltered, per city data, up 35% from 2019. In San Francisco's Mission District, police and city workers are faced with tense and emotional challenges. Jeff, who didn't want to share his last name, was upset by his arrest. He said he sleeps outdoors by "choice." "I'm getting their help already," said Jeff when asked by CBS News why he refused assistance and resources from the city. "Where does that lead me?" Democratic San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, who took office in January, was elected by voters frustrated by the city's large homeless encampments and its soaring crime rates. Despite the crackdown on homeless encampments, Lurie contends that it is "absolutely not" the city's view that it is a crime to be either poor or homeless in San Francisco. "Our focus is getting people off the street and into shelter and into mental health and drug treatment beds," Lurie told CBS News. "We lead with services," Lurie said. "We lead with our values, which is taking care of people." He believes his tough-on-crime policies and focus on rehabilitation have created safer public spaces. "We're getting a lot of business leaders engaged and involved in the city in a way that they haven't been for a long time," Lurie said. "And there's this feeling of hope and optimism."
ABC News
19-05-2025
- ABC News
Main Roads WA cops criticism after rest stop near Albany bulldozed
The West Australian roads authority has drawn fire for bulldozing and closing off a rest stop used as a dumping ground for illegal campers. The Marbelup rest stop, about halfway between Albany and Denmark on the south coast, was left looking like a landfill after the recent school holidays due to illegal campers and dumping. Rubbish left in the area included piles of razors, food waste and an excrement-filled portable toilet. Main Roads WA, which manages the South Coast Highway and its rest stops, initially suggested people misusing the rest area would be tracked down and fined. But travellers in the area this week found the rest stop had been bulldozed and all access blocked. Main Roads Great Southern regional director Andrew Duffield said ongoing misuse of the site and limited resources led to the closure. "The decision there was based on our inability to be able to control people doing all the things it was suggested they were doing in there," he said. Mr Duffield said the department had been reviewing rest stops on the network and chose to revegetate the site due to its proximity to the City of Albany. "People could come into Albany if they're heading this way — we don't see that as a fatigue risk," he said. The Marbelup rest area was the third stop Main Roads had closed in the past two years, but Mr Duffield said the department was reinvesting resources into improving other rest stops on the network. Main Roads was asked how many rest stops across the WA network it had closed and upgraded in the last two years, but was yet to respond. The closure has angered some road users, including the Australian Caravan Club, which said the decision was "disappointing" and posed safety issues for all road users. Deputy chair Tom Smith said alternative management options should have been explored before the site was closed. "Quite a high percentage of our members prefer to use these facilities when they're travelling to save money," he said. "It's not the RV or the caravan that creates the mess, because a lot of them have got their facilities on board. Mr Smith said regardless of its proximity to town, the closure posed a safety risk. "Fatigue management is very important to people, especially as you get older, not just for the grey nomads but for anybody driving on the road," he said. Western Roads Federation chief executive Cam Dumesny said the closure of the rest area highlighted a worrying trend. "There's actually not enough of them as it is across the state," he said. "We need those rest areas so the drivers can pull in, have their fatigue brakes, which are legally mandated to do — so losing rest areas when we've already got a shortage is certainly a major impact." Mr Dumesny said the federation and Livestock and Rural Transport Association had lobbied the government to develop and upgrade heavy vehicle rest areas across the state. "We all want these rest areas when driving a car or a caravan or a truck," he said. "We've all got a social responsibility, like a BBQ at a community park — we use it, we clean it afterwards so that the next person can use it. "That element seems to be missing."
BBC News
13-05-2025
- BBC News
Conwy: Illegal caravan campers pitch up on school's playing fields
A school has been forced to close off areas of its site after people illegally accessed its playing fields and pitched a number of caravans. The head teacher of Ysgol Emrys Ap Iwan, in Abergele, Conwy said a "small but significant" number of people had caused criminal damage to enter the land, and legal processes have made it difficult for the police to evict a letter to parents, Matt Wildsmith Pennaeth said several areas of the school would remain cornered off while it dealt with the situation, with pupils advised to stay indoors. Conwy council said it had a duty of care for the welfare of all communities and was working with the school to resolve the situation. In the letter Mr Pennaeth said: "It is a great shame that our lovely school has been disrupted by this ignorant, illegal behaviour."He said the incident had the potential to take many school staff away from helping children over "the most stressful of times" as exams take place. Mr Pennarth added that he was aware the situation would be worrying for parents and carers, but would be doing all he could to ensure the students were not said he was keen to run the school with a business as usual approach, with extra measures to "further enhance security" put in place. The letter stated:No student should approach the Dinorben field or anyone camping illegally on thereThe front of the school including the field and astro turf would be unavailable for students during the day. PE lessons scheduled in those areas would be relocatedStudents should make their way indoors as soon as possible when they have arrived at schoolSixth form students should keep their movements off site to a minimum and walk in head teacher also warned parents to remind pupils of the potential risks while travelling to and from school. He said "very fast-moving vehicles" driving down Faenol Avenue had been reported, so asked pupils to walk on pavements and use allocated Pennaeth added that soon as they were confident that the risks to the children in the school were reduced back to the typical level, then the measures would be relaxed. He assured parents that processes were in place to ensure the group were dealt with "as swiftly as possible".
