Twenty unhoused people detained in February sweep of Santa Ana encampment
The population of people experiencing homelessness in Orange County continues to increase despite police efforts to destroy encampments in the community. DANIEL PEARSON, Photo Editor
A marathon sweep of a houseless community in Santa Ana took place Feb. 20. The city brought in seven police officers, along with landscaping trucks and a tractor into the encampment.
According to The People’s Coalition (TPC) — a community organization focused on building decolonization and political education programs in Orange County — 20 members of the unhoused community were detained during the sweep, at least seven of which were handcuffed and taken into custody before being rereleased.
Once the area was cleared, a tractor was driven through, crushing property and dumping everything into landscaping trucks.
“These sweeps are intended to criminalize people experiencing poverty,” a representative told The Panther in an email interview, speaking on behalf of the organization. “They work to destroy people's encampments (homes) while keeping them completely displaced from their community, services and resources.”
In 2021, 1,253 encampments were cleared, compared to 802 in 2020.
These sweeps violate CDC guidelines issued to city officials at the start of the pandemic, as the guidelines state that people living in encampments should be allowed to “remain where they are” since clearing these encampments can disconnect unhoused individuals from essential service providers.
Many Orange County residents report violence occurring during these sweeps, as well as the destruction of personal property like IDs, passports and life-saving resources like Narcan — a medication designed to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose — and shelter supplies.
“Cops have begun bulldozing and slashing our tents while we are in the middle of packing our belongings,” one resident told TPC in a statement released to The Panther. “A few weeks ago, I had a cop slash my tent with a knife while me and my girl were inside. They destroyed it; they destroyed everything. I've seen that happen to other homies a number of times. It was the local police department and the county sheriff.”
Reverend Dennis Kritz of St. Philip Benizi Church in Fullerton has been working closely with the unhoused community in Orange County since 2018.
“The number of people experiencing homelessness in Orange County continues to climb, and unhoused people are dying at a much higher rate than in previous years,” Kritz wrote in an article for the Voice of Orange County. “This carnage must end.”
For resident Eileen Sunchy, who has lived in Orange County all her life, this issue hits close to home.
“Home insecurity has been a looming darkness in my, and many other people's lives,” Sunchy told The Panther. “People don't realize how close we can all be to losing everything, and how little help there is once you get there.”
At least 386 houseless community members died in Orange County last year — the highest death toll in the county’s history. In response, OC Sheriff Coroner Don Barnes announced the formation of the Homeless Death Review Committee in early February.
According to Barnes, over the last several years, the Sheriff's department has been working to address the houslessness problem through the implementation of a behavioral health bureau and participation in the non-profit organization OC Cares — an organization that empowers youth to enact social change in their communities.
“(The Homeless Death Review Committee) will complement (involvement in OC Cares and the behavioral health bureau) and provide recommendations to policymakers that are data-driven and aimed at preventing the loss of life,” Barnes said in an early February statement.
Despite this, critics argue that the resources put in place by the county have been overwhelmingly ineffective.
“Within the County of Orange, there are zero public facilities, zero syringe programs and zero harm reduction services that are open seven days a week,” TPC said. “Without consistent access to harm reduction services, people who use drugs are subject to genocidal conditions.”
The TPC argues the county’s use of “war-like” tactics is an act of violence against people with mental illness and addiction.
Many community activists point to Orange County’s Commission to End Homelessness as an example of the local government’s negligence in seeking alternatives to using violence against people experiencing homelessness. Formed in 2012, the organization’s goal was to implement a plan to end homelessness in Orange County by 2020. However, as homelessness continues to skyrocket across the county, the commission appears to be further from its goal than ever before.
Throughout 2020, commission meetings were frequently canceled due to commissioners failing to attend. Because of this, District Attorney Todd Spitzer asked in an Aug. 21, 2021 meeting if the meetings could be rescheduled in order to not “interfere” with commissioners’ vacation plans..
Activist David Duran expressed his frustration with the commission’s lack of progress at the meeting.
“While you communicate among yourselves to find out when would be convenient to meet, and … continue to cancel meetings, as you have historically done, more people are dying day by day,” Duran said. “Please have some sense of urgency, disregard your personal concerns for a little bit and work to help those who need it the most.”
According to TPC, many houseless community members reported experiencing “prison-like” conditions even in shelters.
“Some of the shelter employees treated us worse than the police,” one resident told TPC in a statement released to The Panther. “That was the worst couple weeks of my life and it got me no closer to finding housing.”
According to TPC, harm reduction for the unhoused community should encompass the provision of resources and services to people that use drugs. This also includes helping users and non-users alike recognize that the realities of poverty, racism, class discrimination and other forms of social inequality affect people's vulnerability and ability to manage drug-related harm.
“Encampments should be provided with dumpsters, portable latrines, showers, hygiene equipment and handwashing stations so that they can build and maintain clean and safe environments,” TPC told The Panther. “Stable encampments will lead to safer environments for our unhoused neighbors.”
At the last point-in-time count that was done in 2019, Orange County had a houseless population of nearly 7,000. An updated count began Feb. 26 of this year.
“At the end of the day, our unhoused neighbors need the non-judgmental and non-coercive provision of services and resources within the communities in which they live that can assist them in reducing harm,” TPC said. “Programs should seek to empower unhoused people to share information and support each other in building strategies that meet their actual conditions of use.”