Sacramento carries out biggest homeless sweep in months, tows 13 cars and orders more cleared
Sharie Dickerson and Lyoana Medek-Starks don’t know where they’re going to sleep.
The city of Sacramento towed the trailer the couple had been using for shelter Wednesday morning along a industrial stretch of Arden Way. It wasn’t as comfortable as the apartment they lost a couple years ago, but it had a locking door, giving them an element of security they seek as unhoused women.
“They’re raping and killing females out here,” said Sharie Dickerson, 39, of Sacramento, as a tow truck driver hooked up the beige RV behind her. “What do we do now? It’s not safe.”
The city Wednesday towed 13 vehicles from the homeless encampment at Evergreen Street and Arden Way, said Kelli Trapani, a city spokeswoman. City crews on Jan. 20 issued tow notices to 110 vehicles in the area that were in violation of city codes and state laws, such as parking in the same spot for more than 72 hours or failing to register it.
It was the largest homeless vehicle sweep since the city towed 18 vehicles at a North Sacramento industrial park in December. Following that action, Mayor Darrell Steinberg asked his colleagues to vote to stop towing vehicles used by homeless individuals unless the city can give them somewhere to go. Councilwomen Katie Valenzuela and Mai Vang supported that, but under pressure from business leaders, the council rejected it.
Since that Dec. 14 council meeting, the city has towed more than 229 vehicles and given tow notices to over 1,025 vehicles, according to weekly reports The Sacramento Bee obtained from a California Public Records Act request.
‘Putting more people on the streets’
When a slew of police officers, code enforcement officers, tow trucks, and animal control staff arrived at Evergreen Street, Atreus Hamilton, 2, peered out the window of his family’s beige RV, his tiny hands up against the window, and crying.
Summer and Harold Hamilton live on Evergreen Street with their four children and three dogs. Crews did not tow their RV Wednesday, because they have kids, but said they would come back in three days, Summer Hamilton said.
When crews hooked up her dad’s RV to a tow truck, the couple stood in front of them to stop it, but ultimately gave in. Summer broke down in tears.
“They’re basically telling us we have to be on the sidewalk,” Summer Hamilton, 34, of Sacramento, said.
The couple has a room in a city homeless hotel, but they still live in the RV some of the time, she said. Both parents work during the day, and the hotel will not allow Summer’s mother into the hotel to watch the kids.
“I feel like they’re just putting more people on the streets,” Harold Hamilton said. “It’s not like anyone chooses to live like this.”
Those with operable vehicles moved them to nearby streets when the tow trucks showed up. Many of the vehicles did not run, and were being used as emergency shelter.
While Justin Shellhorn was helping move his friends’ vehicle, crews towed his trailer and pick up truck.
“This is a zoo right now,” Shellhorn, who has heart failure and COPD, said to his friend on the phone. “I had no idea this was coming.”
During the chaos, Lorraine Ramirez, 49, sat in the driver’s seat of her trailer crying, hoping someone could jump it so she could move it before it got towed.
“They’re just making it worse for people who are already homeless,” Ramirez said through tears. “It takes three times the rent to pay for a place. We have a community here. We clean up the area and make sure someone keeps us safe at night.”
What led to homeless sweep?
Councilman Sean Loloee, who represents the area, said he did not order staff to tow the vehicles, and did not know it was going to happen ahead of time. As long as people are cleaning up their trash, the city should not tow vehicles where any unhoused people are living, he said.
“I do have concerns about that,” Loloee said hours after the sweep. “I don’t think we should move any of these vehicles.”
City spokeswoman Trapani said “the decision to notice vehicles ... was made by the city manager, city manager’s office and the city’s code compliance division.
“This was in response to complaints.”
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While the 2018 Martin v. Boise U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision bars the city from citing people for camping in tents unless there is a shelter bed for them, the decision is vague when it comes to vehicles.
The county had issued a coronavirus public health order prohibiting governments from clearing homeless vehicles, but that order expired in June. All shelter beds in Sacramento are full on any given night. City staff created a policy late last year that says they can tow vehicles parked in the same place for 72 hours.
As a result, hundreds of people who were in vehicles are now camping in tents, where they are at greater risk of hypothermia, heat stroke, and sexual assault, activists say.
“We lost 195 homeless people last year,” said Bob Erlenbusch of the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness, referencing a Bee special report, and criticizing the city for the sweep. “As much protection from the elements as possible saves lives.”
Sacramento’s unopened homeless sites
The city’s Department of Community Response, tasked with responding to homeless camps, did not appear to be present during the sweep. Department staff visited the camp 14 times since Dec. 1 to offer resources and services, said department spokesman Gregg Fishman. In the same timeframe, Forensiclean, a city contractor, visited the area 24 times to pick up unwanted trash and debris, Fishman said. It’s unknown how many people on Evergreen were given shelter beds ahead of the sweep — most days, there are none available because they are all full.
The council in August approved a $100 million homeless siting plan with 20 new locations for services, but none has yet opened.
One of the sites in the plan is located just three blocks from the sweep, and another is located a mile from it.
The city next month plans to open a safe parking lot at one of the sites, at Colfax Street and Arden Way, where people can safely live in their vehicles, with bathrooms, showers, water and rehousing services.
Activists say the city should have opened those sites months ago, long before the Evergreen sweep.
“That was the whole point, to open these up and do what they said they were gonna do,” Erlenbusch said. “It’s so counterproductive for the city to continue to criminalize people experiencing homelessness.”
This story was originally published February 17, 2022 at 6:48 AM with the headline "Sacramento carries out biggest homeless sweep in months, tows 13 cars and orders more cleared."
