Homeless Told To Leave Sacramento Camp Site

[Kadie]

Homeless Told To Leave Sacramento Camp Site
Sacramento Police Say Homeless Were Given 3-Day Warning

POSTED: 8:40 am PDT July 10, 2009
UPDATED: 8:51 am PDT July 10, 2009

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Dozens of homeless people camping on private property in Sacramento were told they had to move Friday or else be cited or arrested.

Up to 100 people had been staying on land next to Union Gospel Mission since marching there Tuesday. Some were camped on the sidewalk, too.

"It's frustrating no matter what. It's just hard to always have the police on your door, it really is," homeless camper Tracie Rice-Bailey said. I just don't understand why they don't protect a man's right to sleep as well as they do his right to breathe. You show me someone that don't sleep, I'll show you someone that don't breathe."

Police emphasized that camping on private property for more than one day is illegal, and they gave the campers a three-day courtesy warning to move.

"Really, this isn't about a confrontation between the police and the homeless issue," Sgt. Norm Leong said. "We understand the homeless issue, but we have to balance it with camping's still illegal in the city of Sacramento."

more...
http://www.kcra.com/news/20015376/detail.html

[chaplainM]

1. The homeless have doors? What are they attached to?

"It's frustrating no matter what. It's just hard to always have the police on your door, it really is," homeless camper Tracie Rice-Bailey said

Is this a door she carries with her, or is it part of the private property on which she's sleeping?

BTW, one way to reduce the amount of time spent dealing with police is to stop tresspassing.

[Jim Sagle]

2. chaplainM of what? The church of the dollar bill?

[chaplainM]

4. LOL

I think the law should apply to everyone, rich or poor.

And I'm still puzzled about that door thing. Sacramento summers can be hot; maybe she carries around a door so she can open it up to allow a nice breeze.

[Jim Sagle]

5. Amusing yourself (and no one else, I suspect) at their expense. Stay classy.

[chaplainM]

6. You think the concept of equal justice under the law lacks class.

Make sure they cover up that phrase if you ever visit the Supreme Court building.

[subcomhd]

11. I do

which is why I hope next time you doze off at the airport during a long layover, you get ticketed for camping.

[Jim Sagle]

19. Anatole France said it all, with ADMIRABLE class:

The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to beg in the streets, steal bread, or sleep under a bridge.

[arikara]

14. Are you really a chaplain?

A believer in the compassion of Jesus?

[chaplainM]

15. Not a chaplain

I believe very much in compassion. As for the compassion of Jesus, I think he could've done much better. An omniscient deity would've known at least as much about disease prevention as we do today, but he chose to keep us ignorant.

[mikelgb]

7. tent's have doors

expletive

redacted

fuck

[chaplainM]

8. Apparently, they also have extra apostrophes, too. n/t

[subcomhd]

12. Thank God

Somebody was kind enough to point out the obvious. Sometimes it's necessary - I suppose.

[northernlights]

10. just out of curiousity

Where do you expect the homeless to go? No matter where they go, they're likely to be trespassing.

Or do you think they should just do the decent thing and kill themselves? Preferably someplace where you are not, so you won't have to trouble yourself to step over their bodies.

What a schmuck. Another purely rhetorical question: why are you are DU? Wouldn't you feel more at home in, say, FREEPERVILLE?

[chaplainM]

13. I've never stepped over any homeless person

Most poor people obey the law. And I'm just as disgusted when wealthy people break the law.

[datasuspect]

16. how is it possible for a homeless person to observe property rights

when by virtue of their very existence they are trespassing? that is, if you own no property or do not have the means to secure a lease to a property or dwelling, what protection do you have?

wherever you might be in this life, you are on someone's property. even public property. you can still be cited for vagrancy or loitering.

[tech3149]

22. A few years back, me and the ex did a weekend getaway

Went down to Ybor City. Nice place to spend some time but taking a walk about showed how divided our society is. Most of the residential area is gated communities with lots of private security. It didn't matter that we were white, fairly well dressed, and not doing anything suspicious. We could barely walk a block without a cop or security geek checking us out. On the way back home we drove through the historic section of Tampa which is basically poor, black, and blighted. I felt more comfortable there than I did in the big bucks neighborhood.

As far as the homeless, I've got enough space for a family or two as long as they can help out with the yard work and garden. If it weren't for the family homestead, I could be homeless too.

[Missy Vixen]

23. Wow, such wit

>BTW, one way to reduce the amount of time spent dealing with police is to stop tresspassing.<

Why don't you share with the rest of the class where these people are supposed to go? Most cities have ordinances now that do not allow even sitting down on the sidewalk. Everything else is private property. Most homeless won't go to shelters because the shelters are more dangerous than the great outdoors.

Again: I can't wait to hear what you're going to come up with. Then again, I'm sure it'll be more non-funny quips at the expense of the homeless.

[Gemini Cat]

25. You aren't funny.

[juno jones]

3. K&R!

Sacramento is proving to be a very good example of what happens when an existing homeless population gets larger and begins to draw the notice of authority. Does authority do something proactive about it? Seemiingly not. They just keep moving them on, preferably to someplace they don't have to look at them, which in Sac is at a distance from the services the homeless need to survive.

I'm reasonably sure they are the visible tip of the iceberg. How many people in the Sac area are staying with friends or camping in friend's backyards (like I did the two times I was caught homeless in Sac area)? Many of these people can only stay in those temporary situations for a matter of months and in this 'jobless recovery' they might not be able to get sufficient work to recover. When THOSE people hit the street and the system, Arnie's not going to know what hit him.

I've seen the homeless population grow exponentially where I live now. Last winter they were scattered from an encampment in a wooded area in town. I always wonder when driving by where those people went and if they got help. This action certainly was efficient at keeping the public from seeing how many of their friends and neighbors and just plain folk and their families were joining the ranks of the homeless camped there.

[lindisfarne]

9. Churches need to organize. Seattle has a tent city which locates in a place for about 6 months

then moves to another location. There are few problems, in part because they have some very strict rules to eliminate problems. I can imagine it's a godsend to families who don't have other options.

[GreenPartyVoter]

17. Agreed. However, cities where the weather is harsh would be hard-pressed to

keep people in tents for more than only part of the year. :(

[lindisfarne]

20. Sacramento hardly has harsh weather. And the homeless are dealing with the weather, regardless

of whether it's harsh or not. So a safe tent city, where problems like drug dealing are kept out, is still better than living under a bridge unprotected - especially if you're female or a child.

[GreenPartyVoter]

21. I was thinking of how the issue affects people more in my area, which is the Northeast.

Yes, a tent is better than under a bridge, but neither tent nor bridge are all that great in a blizzard so we would still have to find a way to help people in areas where weather makes unprotected outdoor living near to impossible.

I think someone mentioned the other day in a thread about big box stores that have died off that they should be turned into homeless shelters. I like that idea and wonder if it is feasible or not.

[Missy Vixen]

24. Actually, Tent City has had lots of problems with the surrounding communities

It's always amusing to me to listen to the godly who can't wait to run those damn homeless people out of their pristine communities. Of course, they're not willing to offer any kind of solution for the problem, besides NIMBY.

I often wonder how they would react if Jesus Himself showed up. Then again, he wasn't driving a Mercedes or hangin' at Broadmoor, so I'm sure the reaction would be the same.

[Vidar]

18. Back to the "Grapes of Wrath". Recommended.