Chief Cecilia Ashe provided council with details on The Willows and a homeless encampment near there
At a recent meeting, Kim Wills of the Milford Homeless Action Committee spoke during the public comment portion to Milford City Council about issues facing the residents of The Willows development, located along Airport Road. Residents of the development, formerly known as The Cascades, were dealing with a significant homeless population living in the surrounding woods.
“I understand that they are a Section 8 place, but they are your residents. We have people living in the woods that have kerosene, that are lighting fires with kerosene. I need help,” Wills said. “They should not have to put up with schizophrenic people up by their sign screaming and hollering during the night. The kids should be able to finish their game of football and not have to come inside whenever these people are roaming back into the woods, you guys need to protect them. You need to protect the kids. You need to be protecting elderly people that live there.”
Councilman Jason James placed the item on the agenda for the meeting on September 23, explaining that this was a great concern among residents.
“There’s great concern with homelessness in the city of Milford and has been for quite some time. At one of our previous council meetings very important information was presented to the city of Milford during that public comment period. During that period, the council does not have a chance to respond by design of the way we do our public comment period,” Councilman James said. “But for clarity sake, for the sake of Council and the citizens of Milford, they do need to hear, I think they do need to hear what was occurring, what action was taken, and what is the city’s position with what is going on.”
Chief Cecilia Ashe explained that the issues came to the attention of Milford Police Department after that public comment regarding the Willows. The chief explained that the police department met with staff at the Willows.
“We met with Miss Beverly, who we have a very good relationship with at The Willows, as well as some residents to address any concerns or rumors or perception of what is going on,” Chief Ashe said. “There were about anywhere from two to four individuals living in the wood line along the Willows property. So, on something like this, we try to work in concert with our community leaders and the resources. But when we’re addressing these issues, it’s very important that we meet with the property owners and the management to see what their wishes are. When we went into this process, we also look at who is the property registered to, who is the actual property owner. One of the things that was discussed was the fact that the homeless were cutting through The Willows property when we met with Miss Beverly, that was not the concern of her or the residents at the time. And we also discovered that the adjacent property was not owned by The Willows, so we had to dig down and meet with each of the owners.”
Chief Ashe continued, stating that there were several small parcels there and it was confusing to determine who actually owned them.
“But we did meet with each of those representatives to discuss the issue. We are seeing none of those residents or none of those property owners raise concern in reference to the homeless individuals living on their property,” Chief Ashe said. “However, with that being said, they did express concern about any potential liability to them being on the property.”
The Milford Police Department Behavioral Health Unit works in concert with the homeless to try to address any mental health or substance abuse issues that exist, according to Chief Ashe.
“We offer services continuously, and we also, once we know from the owner that they don’t want them on the property, we would issue them a banning notice. That is not the department’s banning notice, but it’s the property owner’s banning notice presented, typically by their in house counsel or their attorneys that have designed banning notice,” Chief Ashe said. “Once that’s issued to the individual, if they return to the property, then that person can elect to prosecute for trespassing, typically dependent on the circumstances. With the police department, we first issue the person a summons if they return to the property again. At that point, they’re disobeying the original summons, plus reoffending.”
Once the police department was able to hone down on where the owners of the property stood and helped individuals get the resources they needed, steps could be taken, but there were other issues at play.
“The reality that law enforcement faces and that Miss Wills and Trish Marvel face every single day, is some people aren’t ready for help and some people don’t want help. So, it’s important that, first off, the police department stays apolitical,” Chief Ashe said. “We don’t take sides. Our job is to provide public safety for all, so ensuring that people understand that we are bound by constitutional laws and therefore can’t go and harass somebody because they’re simply homeless if they are on somebody’s property, and the property owner is allowing them to live on that property in open space, whether it’s a tent, you know, or whatever that is, in some cases that is how the individual chooses to live.”
The chief also applauded the efforts of Wills, Marvel and Martha Gery of the Milford Advocacy for the Homeless. She also credited Paige’s Kindness Project with being of great assistance to those in need, especially children. Chief Ashe stated that Wills and Marvel were great at talking to people at their level and letting them know the resources available to them. Gery was able to help get the four individuals off the property, which Chief Ashe showed how the community can come together to help those that are struggling.
“And the Willows is an example where it’s brought to our attention. We address it as a government and we try to get resources for those individuals, but also respect the property owners wishes. But we also want to make sure that we’re not leaving the property owners who are often stuck with clean up and the cost of doing that,” Chief Ashe said. “I think, Trish had mentioned this the last time, I know, I have seen a difference in the work that you all are doing and the homeless that are present in the city. And I think you’ve really done a great job of trying to meet people where they’re at, but we have to remember as a police department is that we are apolitical. We are not somebody’s enforcement tool, and we have to be very careful in the lines that we tread, as far as borderline harassing people who may choose or are not ready to get the help. All we can do as individuals, as a community, is continuing to support them when they need the support, and know that we’re there for them.”
Councilman James pointed out that the city is looking out for the best interest of citizens, which also included businesses, encouraging anyone who encountered someone who was homeless to refer them to Milford Advocacy for the Homeless or the Milford Homeless Action Committee as well as other groups who are willing to provide assistance.
“But at this present time, I know it was spoke of, but Milford does not have a homeless committee, and we have to make sure that the public understands where the city government is and this versus volunteer groups, because if that gets conflated, then it causes confusion to the citizen on how they go about addressing issues,” Councilman James said. “So, we have to be very careful with that. We just want to be able to make sure that we’re doing the best job for the best outcome for everyone involved.”
Councilwoman Madula Kalesis pointed out that if a property owner does not want to press charges, there was nothing that could be done, but wondered if the city could do something when the homeless gathered in city parks. She felt that was city-owned property so the city could have a say.
“So sometimes I think, naturally, there’s a perception of and when they are in public parks, they have the constitutional right, regardless of their housing status, to be in those parks, as long as what they are doing in the parks is legal,” Chief Ashe said. “And sometimes we may see in some of our parks that they have open containers, and we do focused enforcement on that, educating them that they can’t be doing that, and then again, a slow progression of accountability and ensuring that, if hearing us, that we’re then enforcing the laws, we’re always enforcing them, but then giving them summonses and potentially arresting them for those type of things. But there are guidelines and laws from dusk to dawn that people can’t be inside the parks, and we do a very good job of patrolling those at night. But I think the focus is that they have a right to be there, as does anybody and the police are bound by the Constitution.”
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