Police take blankets from Denver homeless after urban camping ban

[EC]

Police in Denver, Colorado, were criticised after a video of them confiscating blankets from homeless people was widely shared on social media this month. The city of Denver has in place a controversial “urban camping ban”, which forbids unauthorized camping on public property, and the local police force are obligated to enforce city “sweeps” of homeless people infringing the ordinance.

The measure, which was passed in 2012, does not criminalise homelessness. Rather, it makes it illegal to use tents, shelters, sleeping bags and other survival gear in the parts of the city where camping is unauthorised. The ban directly targets homeless people, and while it permits them to sleep and stay outside, they are not allowed to do so with a sleeping bag or a mattress. This year has seen Denver authorities conduct a more concerted crackdown on homeless people, with local news site Westword estimating in May that enforcement of the camping ban in just March and April of this year had increased by nearly 500 percent compared to enforcement over the previous 45 months.
Homelessness is a long-standing problem in the city of Denver. Photo credit: Pj Damico

“Camping you do for fun — this you do to survive”

Jerry Burton, who has been homeless for three years and can be seen in the video, told FRANCE 24, “This isn’t camping. Camping you do for fun — this you do to survive to the next day.”

Kayvan S.T. Khalatbari is a homeless advocate and lives in Denver. He filmed the police taking blankets from a group of homeless people, including Burton, who were camping outside the Denver City and Council building on the night of November 29. The group had deliberately set up their camp outside the council building as a protest, after being moved along from where they were previously staying.

Read more: http://observers.france24.com/en/20161228-denver-urban-camping-ban-police-take-blankets-homeless

Does anyone bother to actually think any more, or is common sense surgically removed when you start feeding at the public trough?

[Applewood]

Well, Mr. Burton, you have been homeless for three years.  What have you done in all that time to get yourself off the streets and into a more stable environment?

I get it that some people are homeless through no fault of their own and I do feel for their struggle.  But the vast majority of the ones I've encountered are homeless because of their own behavior.    There are shelters and a myriad of housing, educational, job training and rehabilitation programs out there, but the homeless won't take advantage of them.  Fact is,  is  a good many homeless are that way because they want to be. 

Sorry I sound so uncharitable, but it is what it is.  While I don't think it's a good idea to take blankets from the homeless, we have to get them off the streets.  Why didn't the police just take these people to a shelter or to the jail for the night? 

Ok, I think I know the answer:  the ACLU or some other liberal organization would sue for violating the homeless' civil rights.   

[mountaineer]

Funny you should say that, @Applewood . I just saw a year-in-review video by Wendy Bell, former WTAE newscaster, who now video blogs via Facebook. This year she stopped and talked to a "homeless" guy who panhandles near her home. He said he has a wife and two children and just needed a helping hand to get off the streets. After she blogged about it,  dozens of people offered him jobs and a place for his family to stay. He never showed up for any of the jobs, and Wendy hasn't seen him begging with his "homeless please help" signs since then.  Apparently, he's moved to another corner.

I agree with you. There are many who can't help themselves, whether because of mental illness or addictions, and they need all the help we can offer. But for many it's a scam. My brother-in-law once encountered a panhandler whose sign indicated he was a homeless veteran. My b-i-l, a USAF veteran himself, offered to drive the guy to a veterans' services office and to buy him a meal. The man indignantly rejected the offers, said he only wanted money, and walked away.

[geronl]

I guess they can outlaw coats in sub-freezing temps too

[geronl]

Sorry I sound so uncharitable, but it is what it is.  While I don't think it's a good idea to take blankets from the homeless, we have to get them off the streets.  Why didn't the police just take these people to a shelter or to the jail for the night? 

Ok, I think I know the answer:  the ACLU or some other liberal organization would sue for violating the homeless' civil rights.   

It's not easy to stop being homeless. Many cities have banned churches from feeding or housing the homeless.

They can buy some incinerators from the Germans I guess.

Why didn't the police just take these people to a shelter or to the jail for the night? 

Because they ain't breaking any laws.

[geronl]

The real homeless are not the aggressive panhandlers.