Two Adjacent Oregon Cities Confront Homelessness in Different Ways

During the Week of February 17, 2008, two adjacent Oregon cities handled the problem of homelessness in contrasting ways.

On February 19, 2008, Central Point Oregon police teamed up with Jackson County Sheriffs Department to begin their annual "Homeless Sweep". Local law enforcement agencies got a head start this year; normally they wait until March or April to rouse the homeless off public lands.

The Bear Creek Greenway is an 18-mile walking/biking trail that connects Ashland, Talent, Phoenix, Medford and Central Point.

Central Point Police say the contact with the transient population offers an alternative to continued illegal trespassing and camping. One of the stated "goals" of the sweep was to contact homeless persons living along the Bear Creek Greenway in and around the City of Central Point and offer assistance for their needs by providing them with a list of "essential service resources" they may take advantage of, if they choose.

Sheriff Mike Winters maintains that it is not illegal to be homeless, but says, "If they only saw the trash left behind from some of these things."

On February 21, 2008, Ashland Oregon hosted a forum by the League of Women Voters to discuss what the community could do about homelessness. Approximately 80 people filled up the downstairs meeting room in the library to listen to a panel that included Ashland's police chief Terry Holderness, Homeless activist Daniel Hoeff, former Director of Community Works Arnie Green, member of the Ashland Housing Commission Graham Lewis, and Executive Director of ICCA (Interfaith Care Community Ashland) Sharon Shrieber. Ashland Municipal Court Judge Barbara Jarvis who is an LWVA member moderated the event.

While the Ashland Forum did not pretend to try to solve the problem of homelessness, it did allow an opportunity for more of an ongoing discussion between local agencies and a homeless advocate. Ashland's police chief, Holderness echoed Sheriff Winter's acknowledgement that "Homelessness is not a crime, and homeless people have the same civil rights as anyone else," but went on to state that, "as police officers we are asked to enforce laws that other people have made, so we get stuck in the middle a lot."

Homeless advocate Daniel Hoeff seemed to disagree. He mentioned that it is illegal for anyone to sleep in public and talked about how the homeless often feel hunted. "If you can't fall asleep and you are hunted all the time, you can only be hunted for so long before you start losing it up here (points to his head)." He thought that the homeless population needs a legal place to camp within the city of Ashland and said, "Let's work on healing and put the shame behind us."

Source:
Press Release:
http://www.cp-pd.com/department_news.htm#City_of_Central_Point_Bear_Creek_Greenway_%93Sweep%94_