‘Fed up.’ Fines, arrests planned for ‘problematic’ homeless in Fresno encampments

Declaring that Fresno residents are “fed up” with the proliferation of homeless camping on sidewalks and public spaces, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and City Councilmembers Miguel Arias, Garry Bredefeld and Tyler Maxwell announced a proposed ordinance to ban such camps within the city.

The ordinance, unveiled at a press conference Friday at Fresno City Hall, comes in the wake of a recent Supreme Court decision that civil and criminal penalties for camping in public areas do not represent “cruel and unusual punishment” for homeless individuals under the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The court’s conservative majority voted 6-3 along ideological lines on the ruling.

The high court’s decision overturned lower-court rulings that blocked anti-camping laws in western U.S. states including California.

On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order for state agencies to adopt policies to clear homeless encampments on state property. The order encourages local city and county agencies to do the same. Also on Thursday, Fresno County Supervisor Steve Brandau announced that he will introduce a county ordinance to make camping in public spaces a misdemeanor punishable by fines up to $1,000 and up to six months in jail.

Fresno’s proposal is for a misdemeanor carrying fines up to $1,000 and up to one year in jail.

The city’s proposed ordinance will be up for discussion at a special City Council meeting on Monday; if it wins initial approval, it would be up for a final vote on Aug. 15 and take effect in mid-September.

Existing city codes state that “an individual shall not be cited … unless it is confirmed a bed is available at a shelter or other facility.” That language would be removed, allowing a person camping illegally on a sidewalk, roadside, in a park or other public property to be fined and subject to arrest even if there are no emergency shelter beds available.

“The people of Fresno have been patient long enough, and their patience has run out,” Dyer said. “They are fed up. We are fed up. And the state of California is fed up with our unsheltered population that is having a negative effect on our communities.”

“Simply put,” the mayor said, “regardless of the availability of bed space (at emergency shelters within Fresno), we will hold our unsheltered population accountable and that could and will include arresting and taking them to jail if in fact they are in violation of the ordinance.”

The most recent Point-in-Time report available from the Fresno-Madera Continuum of Care estimated the number of homeless people in the city of Fresno at about 3,200 , including more than 1,800 who were unsheltered as of early 2023. Homeless advocates say they believe the actual number of homeless is closer to 10,000.

What will Fresno’s camp ordinance outlaw?

“No person may sit, lie, sleep or camp on a public place at any time,” the new ordinance language states. “’Camp’ shall be defined to include, but not limited to, sitting, lying, storing or placing a tent on a public place. ‘Public place’ shall be defined to include, but not be limited to, sidewalks, streets, alleyways or other public space.”

The proposed ordinance, if ultimately approved, prohibits sleeping or camping in any pedestrian or vehicle entrance to public or private property along a public sidewalk. And 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.

Dyer, Arias, Bredefeld and Maxwell said camping by homeless people on public property throughout the city creates problems for nearby residents and businesses, from verbal or physical harassment to litter and property damage.

“What this ordinance will allow us to do is clear the large encampments building up in front of your children’s schools, your neighborhood parks, your local bus stops and in front of our cherished small businesses,” Maxwell said.

“We want to help (the homeless), truly we do. We have tried our hardest these last four years I’ve been on the City Council,” added Maxwell, referring to the renovation of run-down motels into emergency shelters or transitional housing, meals, showers, bus rides and other services.

“We’re here to help you if you want that help,” he said. “If you don’t want the city’s help, that’s OK, too. But I hope you find that help somewhere else because our schools, parks and businesses are off limits.”

“Any individual charged with violation of this article, in lieu of being taken to jail may, at the election of the citing officer and with the consent of the individual,” be taken to a place that provides social services including mental health, housing or substance-abuse treatment.

Who will prosecute the cases?

The city will rely not on the Fresno County District Attorney to prosecute people arrested for violating the ordinance, instead tasking the Fresno City Attorney’s Office.

The $1,000 fine/one year in jail penalties are “the maximum that a judge can impose or that a prosecutor can ask,” City Attorney Andrew Janz said. But, he added, such cases are historically treated by county prosecutors as petty crimes relative to offenses like rape, assault or homicides.

“I’m directing my prosecution team to make sure we don’t engage in any type of plea bargaining when it comes to these types of cases. … We’re going to demand accountability on all of these cases,” Janz said. “If you accept services, if you accept help in the criminal justice system, then we’re going to go that route.” But he added that his attorneys will seek maximum sentences from judges and juries for those who refuse help.

The ordinance includes a provision that, “as an alternative to a fine or jail sentence, the City would encourage the Court to grant diversion or probation with a condition the offender complete a rehabilitation program.”

Said Dyer: “The hope is that the judge will offer that individual treatment in lieu of jail time, and our hope is that they will take advantage of that. If not, then there are going to be criminal justice system consequences.”

Who will be targeted?

The ordinance will be aimed primarily at people who do not comply with orders from officers with the city’s Homeless Assistance Response Team, or HART, to move themselves and their belongings from sidewalks or other public property, and who refuse shelter, treatment or services. “We want to make perfectly clear for those who return to locations after they’ve been asked to leave, who do not heed the warnings of law enforcement or our HART team, our officers will be encouraged to arrest those individuals,” Dyer said.

Arias said his focus is on responsibility and accountability. “Being poor or homeless is not in itself a crime, nor do we seek to punish poverty,” he said. But, he added, “the message I want homeless residents to hear today … (is) it is time for you to get clean, for you to get a job, or accept the help offered by family or the numerous churches and organizations.”

“There is help for you. It may take a while … but it will be a helping hand that will be extended by the city and our numerous organizations,” Arias added. “In the meantime, though, you will be held to the same responsibility and consequences that the rest of us face for engaging in criminal activity, which will include fines and time in the county jail.”

Arias said the city has invested more than $400 million since 2018 for homeless services including shelters, meals, medical services, transportation and heating and cooling centers. “We have done everything in our power and everything that money could buy to create support services for those who are willing and able to take that help,” he said.

Bredefeld echoed that sentiment. “We want to help those who are homeless and truly want help and to change their lives and lifestyle,” is said. “There is plenty of help available; the city will do everything they can think of to assist those people like we’ve been doing for years.”

“But there’s a subculture of the homeless who want that toxic lifestyle regardless of the help offered to them,” he added. “They want to continue to use drugs and alcohol, create unsafe and unhealthy and sometimes dangerous conditions.”

He cited his own experience as a clinical psychologist as he stated, “it’s a choice to reject help and to live on the streets.”

A game of whack-a-mole

The city’s current ordinance, approved by the city council when Dyer was the chief of police // was elected mayor in 2020, often creates a situation in which HART officers ask someone to move from a sidewalk or park, only for the person to move a block away and cause problems there. “And then it really becomes a game of whack-a-mole, where they just keep moving and moving and moving,” Dyer said.

“The goal for this is not just removing them from one particular location; it’s preventing them from camping or laying on sidewalks within the city, whether it’s in the Tower District or downtown, whether it’s in a park or in front of a business,” he added. “That’s the warning. It may not be the same location that they’re violating, but the continued violation throughout our city is what’s going to be enforced.”

The city also wants to avoid simply driving the homeless out of the city to somewhere else. “Our number one goal is not to displace them into another location or jurisdiction,” Dyer said. “Our goal is to displace them into shelter from the streets and give them the services they need to be productive.”

The mayor acknowledged, however, that the city lacks enough shelter beds or affordable housing options to serve all of the homeless. “We do know there will be a displacement effect,” he said. “We can’t do what we’re doing on this ordinance and with our enforcement efforts if we don’t have housing on the back end. We have to have housing, and we’ve been working towards that.”

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