Sacramento County gives deputies broader ability to clear homeless. Here’s what’s changed
Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputies and park rangers will soon have additional authority to move homeless people off public property without offering a shelter bed.
The Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved an amendment to a September 2022 ordinance that banned camping along the American River Parkway and near so-called critical infrastructure. The new ordinance extends the ban to all public property in the unincorporated county, including public buildings, according to a staff report.
It also broadens the definition of a “camp facility” to include not just huts and tents, but also vehicles and trailers.
The ordinance allows deputies and park rangers to issue criminal misdemeanors to people after giving a warning.
“It is imperative to act with urgency to address dangerous encampments, which subject unsheltered individuals living in them to extreme weather, fires, predatory and criminal activity, and hazardous activity, including but not limited to, widespread substance use, harming their health, safety and well being, and which also threaten the safety and viability of nearby neighborhoods and businesses and undermine the cleanliness and usability of parks, water supplies, and other public resources,” states one of the additions to the ordinance.
Niki Jones, executive director of Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness, said that organization opposed the action because people are less safe when they are on their own without a tent, vehicle or other people.
“Staying in encampments is a strategy for safety and survival,” Jones told the board Tuesday. “Individuals stay together for safety and to look out for each other.”
Supervisor Rich Desmond said the action was not intended to “punish those experiencing homelessness.”
“This amendment to prohibit unlawful camping on public property is not about punishing those experiencing homelessness; rather, it’s about creating a supportive environment for all community members,” Desmond said in a county blog post. “We must strike a balance that allows us to address the challenges of homelessness while maintaining the safety and viability of our public spaces.”
The change follows the U.S. Supreme Court Grants Pass ruling in June, which overturned the 2018 Martin v. Boise ruling and is generally interpreted to mean cities can go back to clearing and citing homeless camps on public property without offering shelter beds.
The ordinance would require officials to give homeless people 48 hours’ notice before clearing camps and vehicles on public property, except when “the encampment poses an imminent threat to public health or safety or is within 1,000 feet of a shelter providing services to homeless individuals.” Previously, the ordinance required a 25-foot radius from shelters.
Sacramento District Attorney Thien Ho, who sued the city of Sacramento in part to push for more criminal citations for camping-related violations, thanked the board for the ordinance last month. Representatives of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership and Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce also spoke in favor of it.
The board voted unanimously to approve the ordinance Tuesday without discussion.
This story was originally published November 6, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
