Although the City of Long Beach has begun its sweep of a homeless encampment at one park, it says the public should not expect a mass sweep of the city. Mekahlo Medina reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024.
Despite an early Monday morning clear-out of one of five areas considered as problems due to homeless encampments, the City of Long Beach does not expect to fence in other "problem parks,” it said.
Amid the start of the city's homeless encampment sweep, city representatives cleared speculation that the building of a chain fence at Gumbiner Park was a result of keeping unsheltered residents out.
“At Gumbiner, we do have repairs that need to happen in the park and so the fence is only temporary,” said Teresa Chandler, Long Beach Deputy City Manager. “The ultimate goal in Long Beach is to get people connected to permanent housing.”
The city identified five locations with problem encampments: Gumbiner Park, Billie Jean King Library, Lincoln Park, Jenni Rivera Park and Veterans Parks. It said the city is planning for more cleanups and police have also been given the discretion to issue anti-camping citations.
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“The citations are going to be used in a way that is a last resort if people continue to come back to locations,” said Chandler.
The city took the action after Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order for California cities to clean up encampments following a U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing cities to enforce anti-camping laws.
Long Beach has long been focused on a housing-first approach since it declared a homeless emergency in 2023 and ended this year. The city has spent more than $60 million on transitional housing, temporary housing like motel vouchers, shelter beds and outreach to Long Beach’s approximately 3,400 unhoused residents.
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Long Beach saw a 2% decrease in its homeless population from 2023-24, with about 71 fewer people counted in the city’s annual homeless count.
“We are going about this all wrong and something truly needs to change,” said Christine Berry, a homeless advocate who has a charity that has moved more than 200 people off the street. “I give out bus tickets to go home and connect with families. The city isn’t offering that.”
Berry believes the city’s approach is not delivering results fast enough. She wants more quality-of-life officers and for the city to prioritize non-drug users for housing first.
The city says it's listened to the community’s advice, but believes its practice is the best.
“The ultimate goal in Long Beach is to get people connected to permanent, supportive long-term housing solutions,” said Chandler, who said the practice does its results, but it takes time. “We have some real success of people, but it took years -- 5, 10 years sometimes.”
