As Pima County sinks deeper and deeper into an economic abyss, both homeowners and the homeless are feeling frustrated. In downtown Tucson, that frustration is evident in the growing number of “pods” lining the sidewalks.
The proliferation of pods, small mobile sleeping cabinets donated by a Bisbee philanthropist to the homeless structures, has angered City and County leaders who are embarrassed by the unseemly scene.
Appearances are not the concern of Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller however. Last week, Miller appeared on the popular Tucson radio show hosted by James T. Harris to discuss the homeless situation in Pima County and its impact on small business owners and residents.
Listen to business owner here.
Miller described a homeless encampment in her District on the northwest side of Pima County. There are multiple encampments,” said Miller. “I’ve been getting calls from businesses and the homeless are committing crimes, stealing people’s sandwiches as they come out the door,” of a restaurant on La Cholla and Orange Grove. “It is happening all over and the business owners are just fed-up,” said Miller.
The business owners pay a lot of taxes and they are saying they expect the situation to be taken care of but we have a whole protocol that we have to follow in order to get these people removed and into a shelter,” said Miller.
The protocol was developed by County officials, and put in place by the Board of Supervisors, according to Miller.
Miller said she was going to ask her fellow supervisors to reconsider the protocol “to help these poor business owners, who pay a fortune in taxes and people won’t go to their stories. People are being run out. First of all the customers are intimidated and then you have the individuals going into the business, ordering their food, and the vagrants grab the food and run. And then we hear from individuals living in the area. Animals are being stolen from backyards while they are at work. They are stealing their pets.
Miller explained that officials told her that the pets are taken by panhandlers in order to generate sympathy. They reason that people may not have sympathy for a human, but will have some for an animal.
Harris said, “You have businesses that are suffering, you have homeowners who are being burglarized, have been victimized, you have people who are trying to do business who are being burglarized.” Miller responded to the incredulous Harris, “Yup, and I will actively be working on a addressing this issue.”
“Somebody has to do something because these residents feel abandoned,” concluded Miller.
In October of 2014, the ADI reported that a homeless woman, Linda Grow, who was found killed on Tucson’s north side April 10, 2013, was decapitated.
The Sheriff’s Department released the information in the hope that the public could provide information to help solve the cold case. The 50-year-old Grow was likely decapitated after she was killed.
Investigators suspect that Grow was killed elsewhere and her body moved to a desert area across the street from Foothills Mall.
PIMA COUNTY HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT PROTOCOL
The Homeless Encampment Protocol is initiated when surveillance discovers homeless people camping on public or private properties or a constituent/citizen complaint is received by a Pima County agency. Homeless camps can pose a threat to public health, safety and the environment and foster criminal activity. The protocol may also be initiated when a homeless camp is established in a public waterway and poses a threat to the safety of the occupants of the camp.
INITIATION OF PROTOCOL
Complaint received and/or congregate unit of people is identified. Usually it will be the Pima County Sheriff’s Department (PCSD) or Pima County Department of Environmental Quality (PDEQ) who receive the complaint, or identify the camp through surveillance.
Homeless camp complaints concerning only the existence of the encampment and/or any criminal activity received by PDEQ will be referred to PCSD.
Homeless camp complaints relating to environmental concerns i.e. solid waste or sewage received by PCSD will be referred to PDEQ for investigation.
The PCSD or PDEQ will identify property location and ownership (public or private property).
The PCSD or PDEQ may refer a complaint to Pima County Community Development and Neighborhood Conservation Department (CDNCD) to arrange an outreach meeting at the homeless camp prior to taking remedial action.
CDNC will notify the Jackson Employment Center (JEC) who will deploy the appropriate Outreach Team to facilitate the homeless assistance program.
The JEC Outreach Team will make contact with the homeless group or individual, and inform them of community resources available to assist them with immediate and/or long-term needs. A member of the PCSD will accompany all Outreach Teams, as requested by the Jackson Employment Center.
Following any outreach, a member of the PCSD will notify the congregate group/individuals of a time frame to vacate the property or face enforcement action. Specific time frames will be determined, based on whether the property is publicly or privately owned.
If the congregate group/individuals fail to vacate public property within the given time frame, the PCSD will take appropriate action to physically remove the individuals from the encampment.
Once the homeless have been removed from the camp, PCSD will contact PDEQ to facilitate remediation of the affected property.
PROPERTY REMEDIATION
Once public property is vacated, remedial efforts will be initiated.
Remediation of the vacated property must be accomplished in a short time frame to discourage a return of homeless individuals to the property.
PCSD will contact the PDEQ (Enforcement Manager, 243-7400) to have staff inspect the site, determine property ownership, and take the required action to facilitate remediation of the property.
PDEQ may issue either an intergovernmental referral (if publicly owned property is not county owned) or a Notice of Violation (NOV) to the private property owner for remediation to be scheduled.
PDEQ will work with county departments that own the affected parcel to facilitate remediation and the posting of “No Trespassing” signage at the encampment location to prevent the return of the homeless and assist PCSD with the enforcement of State trespassing statutes.