Munn Park is at the core of Lakeland, located at the heart of the city’s downtown and a key landmark in its identity.
A man without a home has successfully appealed for his right to stand in Munn Park among the city’s residents. There are at least 95 others like him, trespassed from Munn Park.
More than a year ago, The Ledger reported Lakeland’s homeless were being trespassed from Munn Park in growing numbers. The city had no formal legal process in place for individuals to appeal the ban, and individuals were told “trespass warnings are permanent.”
John Henry found a way to change that. He is the first person to successfully request a trespass from the city-owned park be lifted.
His supporters are saying Henry’s case is the first in restoring civil rights to the city’s homeless.
“John Henry was the first,” said Mike Carrano, founder of the nonprofit Cosmo Project, at the August meeting of LPD’s Citizens Advisory Board. “We plan on continuing and fighting for equal rights of the unhoused.”
How Henry got banned from Munn Park
In May 2023, Henry was issued a trespass warning from Munn Park by Lakeland Police Officer David Guptill for leaving property in park, according to police records. Henry said he had put his bag on the grass while sitting on the edge of the park’s water fountain, head down, dealing with a complex medical issue. He estimated his bag was three feet away.
Henry was one of at least eight individuals trespassed for the cited reason of “property in the park.”
Another was Nick Karlowa, a homeless man with autism who was trespassed for leaving his bag on a bench while getting up briefly to grab a delivered meal. His trespass warning was rescinded days after The Ledger's reporting.
Who can LPD officers trespass?
Lakeland Police Department has authorization to trespass individuals from any city-owned property. Officers are told individuals can be trespassed “in event of threat to public safety or welfare.”
Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor told The Ledger that he views threats in a public space similarly to an airport.
“Any unattended bags, we encourage people, ‘If you see something, say something,’” he said.
In an August meeting of LPD’s Police Citizen Advisory Board, Taylor said he didn’t see any difference between trespassing individuals from public parks versus private property.
Neither Henry nor Karlowa were found guilty of committing a crime. Officers are allowed to issue trespass warnings “at their discretion,” Taylor said, particularly when a resident or business owner is alleging an individual took actions the officer didn’t witness firsthand.
“Those are tough calls by the officers,” the chief said. “We get put in situations where, for whatever reason, someone doesn’t want them there or they saw something. We didn’t see it. We are relying on what information the person told us that didn’t occur in the officer’s presence.”
Taylor said LPD can often check security cameras overlooking the city’s public parks, but video footage doesn’t always capture the dispute.
“Often, it’s the ones [homeless] going into businesses and causing problems or trying to use the restroom. Those are the ones we address,” he said.
The Ledger reviewed more than 100 trespass warnings issued to individuals from Munn Park from May 2022 to May 2024. More than 90% of the individuals are homeless, or list an emergency shelter as their place of residence. The most common reasons cited for being trespassed were sleeping in the park, creating a disturbance and leaving property in the park.
There was one instance in which an individual got into a physical fight with a city employee. That person was not homeless.
Individuals who are trespassed from Munn Park often receive only a verbal warning from the officer. Anyone can request a copy of the trespass warning record or associated police affidavit from Lakeland Police Department, Taylor said.
Despite prior information provided that “trespass warnings are permanent,” Taylor said this is not the case.
“Some officers, we haven’t done a good job of educating them as they tell folks they are trespassed forever. Well, that’s not the case,” the chief said. “One year for public parks.”
The police department’s policy, General Order 20-1, lays out how trespass warnings from city-owned properties should be handled.
“Any subject that has an interest in appealing a properly issued TWR [Trespass Warning Record] from any city owned property located within the city must respond to LPD and request such an appeal through the Chief of Police or designee,” it reads.
The order was updated in January 2024, and a prior copy published online by WFLA in 2020 does not contain a similar provision. When The Ledger reported on trespasses in 2023, there was no apparent appeal process.
Henry’s appeal followed a different path
While Henry did seek to appeal his trespass within days at the police department with an advocate’s help, he was informed it wasn’t possible.
Southern Legal Counsel Inc., a Gainsville-based statewide nonprofit public-interest law firm, reached out to Lakeland and City Attorney Palmer Davis on Henry’s behalf.
The Ledger has reached out to Davis and his office to request a copy of the letter and speak about the legal exchange, but has not been granted an interview.
Taylor said he was contacted by Davis and asked to sign off on a legal form to rescind Henry’s trespass. The chief said he did without question.
Henry’s trespass warning was rescinded on July 19, 2024 – more than a year after it was issued.
“We typically try to say they [warnings] are one year,” Taylor said. “There’s nowhere it’s written down.”
In seeking further clarification, LPD spokesperson Stephanie Kerr cited General Order 20-1, which states trespass warnings indicate "those subjects ordered to leave and that they may not return to the property identified above at any future time." It describes a Trespass Warning Record as "a written warning to the unwanted guest that they are permanently trespassed from the location at the behest of the owner/owner agent."
By the police department's handbook, trespass warnings never expire. However, that penalty for being on the property after being trespassed can change.
"While the Trespass Warning Record is non-expiring, we prefer a window of a year to arrest an individual for trespass. However, this is not a hard and fast rule," Kerr wrote in an email. "Each situation is handled on a case-by-case basis. When the amount of time passed since the issuance of the trespass warning has been longer than 12 months, officers look at the entire situation to determine what course of action is needed."
Lakeland officers may consider other factors, such as whether the individual committed any other criminal conduct, when a person with a prior trespass warning is found on public property at any point in the future, Kerr said. Each officer decides whether to issue a notice to appear in court, file a complaint affidavit or re-issue another trespass warning.
Some homeless are arrested more than a year after initial trespass
Lakeland police have arrested homeless individuals at the city’s public parks for trespassing more than a year after the warning was issued.
A 63-year-old woman was arrested by Lakeland Officer Michael Hammersla on Aug. 28. Hammersla said he was assigned to patrol land owned by the Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency when he spotted the woman sleeping on the ground under a tree in Freedom Park, according to his police affidavit.
She was observed to be sleeping for more than 30 minutes from 10:51 to 11:21 a.m., Hammersla wrote, in violation of Lakeland’s camping ordinance.
Under the city code, an individual can be found to be “camping” when:
There is an exclusion in the city’s code for people who appear to have “merely succumbed to apparent sleep while out-of-doors.” A violation is usually proven by the individual using a backpack as a pillow, using a blanket or using tarp or cardboard for protection.
Hammersla does not mention any pillow, blanket, backpack, tarp, tent or other other such items in the woman's possession. The officer did note she was previously trespassed from the park on July 22, 2023, more than a year prior to her arrest.
She is facing a first-degree misdemeanor charge for trespassing on property other than a structure. It carries a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine and up to one year in jail.
Her case is still active, according to Polk County Clerk of Court’s online records.
Visible impact on Munn Park
It’s hard to say that Lakeland Police Department’s actions aren’t having a impact — perhaps a desired impact — on Munn Park.
“I’ve been by Munn Park in the last two to three months. I try to drive by it on my way to work,” Taylor said. “There’s just a handful of folks sitting out there. It’s not that prevalent.”
The police chief acknowledged many homeless individuals have started to find new gathering spots, including the northeast corner of Lake Wire – where Freedom Park is.
This is creating issues in the area, Taylor said, as the park is adjacent to Lawton Chiles Middle Academy. The police department has received complaints from someone at the school, who he described as “jumpy,” about a growing number of largely middle-aged men hanging out near its students.
There has been internal discussion within the police department of creating some type of small bifold card to provide homeless individuals with information on various resources available in the area.
Taylor denied claims that the police department has been directed to drive or push homeless individuals away from the city’s parks.
“I’ve got no direction from anybody in the city,” he said. “They [officers] certainly haven’t received direction from me to push people out of Munn Park.”
Rather, the chief said those individuals who are not committing crimes are welcome in these public spaces.
“If they are not committing a crime, sitting on a bench, they are as welcome to be sitting on the bench as anybody else.”
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Trespassing the homeless: Lakeland's enforcement remains mysterious and inconsistent
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