Homeless face tough new regulations

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - A new revised Tucson city ordinance governing the homeless went into effect Friday despite some concerns it may criminalize homelessness.

This after the US Department of Justice last summer issued a warning to communities that being homeless is not a crime and could face sanctions if ordinances and laws go too far.

Just how far is too far is likely subject to interpretation and is different for different agencies.

Which is why Tucson's city attorney Mike Rankin feels comfortable with the changes made to the present ordinance.I

Rankin said he is "confident we are not criminalizing homelessness" but rather "preserving public health and safety."

He says there is no federal agency which will scrutinize the various ordinance's passed by cities to make a determination if it's in violation but it will be scrutinized during the grant application process.

Rankin says it may amount to no more than two out of 200 points during the grant review.

But Tucson city council member from Ward III, Karin Uhlich, is still concerned.

"We always try to get additional dollars too," she said. "That's where to competitive nature of that process is important and where HUD has said we are going to award points very specifically on this question of criminalization."

It's believed communities which cross the line could jeopardize federal funding allocated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Tucson receives about $8 million in federal housing grants but it isn't known how much might be affected..

The city has already applied for grants for next year.

The city attorney's office has also issued directives and protocols to the Tucson Police Department on how to enforce the new ordinance and what's changed.

It's a short, quick refresher which will be carried by officers which outlines what's contained in the ordinance.

It reminds officers anyone feeding more than 10 people in a park,sidewalk, street or public property must get a permit from the Pima County Health Department. If a person or group is selling for it must also get a separate city vendor permit.

It also says the homeless or others sleeping on the sidewalks are restricted to the hours of 10:00 pm until 7 am and are restricted to four cubic feet of possessions, about four milk crates.

But they must also give pedestrians five feet of sidewalk space.

A violation can be a civil citation and a $100 fine.

From 7 am until 10:00 pm, sitting of lying down on a public sidewalk in designated areas is strictly prohibited.

The city will begin posting "Parks Closed" and "No trespassing" signs next week.

Rankin says the first week to 10 days will be "educational" and there will be no enforcement initially.

Under the new rules, some parks, such as Jacome Park downtown, will have extended hours of operation from dusk to 10 p.m.

After the park closes, the homeless will be allowed to sleep on the sidewalks but will have limited space.

One aim of the tougher regulations is to try to convince more of the homeless into city services such as shelters and mental health facilities.

Many of the homeless refuse to take advantage of the services because they don't want to follow the rules which prohibit alcohol, drugs, dogs and couples.

"We're not trying to strong-arm the homeless," Rankin said. "But we would like more of them to use the services available."

Many of the homeless left downtown in anticipation of the new rules and have set up a series of encampments along the East bank of the Santa Cruz River near Congress.