Another round of freezing temperatures are in the forecast this week. They come during a winter when some homeless advocates in Eugene have voiced concerns about city sweeps of tents and camps.
KLCC’s Rachael McDonald spoke to KLCC reporter Nathan Wilk about Eugene’s laws, and how the community is responding.
Rachael McDonald: To start, Nathan, can you tell us about the city’s rules for public camping?
Nathan Wilk: Of course, Rachael. Eugene does allow some camping in public areas, but there are restrictions in several places—like in the middle of walkways, in parks, and near schools.
If the city wants to clear out one of these established camps in an illegal spot, they have to give the people staying there a 72-hour warning. That’s state law.
But if an encampment is less than a day old, the city doesn’t consider it “established,” avoiding the requirement. The city says these “non-established” camps can be given just 2 hours to disperse. And there are some other exceptions, too, like when there’s other illegal activity happening at a camp.
I’ve spoken to homeless advocate Jetty Etty, who’s with the Barefoot Defenders. She claims she's been at camps that have been swept in the middle of their 72-hour notices, or never received advance notice at all.
McDonald: Does the city do anything differently during the winter, when it gets cold overnight?
Wilk: If temperatures fall below freezing, it is city policy to pause sweeps on established camps. But according to reporting by KVAL, city staff are still allowed to issue two hour notices to non-established camps during that time.
And Melinda McLaughlin with the Eugene Police Department says the cold weather policy doesn’t apply to private property. So if someone’s camping on railroad land or outside of a business, police can still cite them for trespassing.
By default, business owners would have to be called for this to happen—for officers to legally enter their property. But they can give police a Trespass Letter of Consent in advance— basically, permission for police to remove any camps they come across.
Etty says unhoused people may choose private land when it’s more out-of-sight than public camping spots, or they may just not be aware of who owns the land. When police remove these camps, Etty argues they risk destabilizing these individuals.
Etty: “Think of being cold all the time and not being able to escape it, and what that would do to your mental state of mind, and then we're watching physical things happen, hypothermia, frost, all kinds of stuff. And then we have police officers going out and destroying their camp, displacing them.”
McDonald: What happens to the items left behind at a camp during a sweep?
Wilk: For criminal trespassing, says McLaughlin, the property owner gets to decide how to dispose of those items. But if it is public land, it’s city policy to take belongings into storage. Kelly Shadwick with Parks and Open Space says the owners can then come to a facility to retrive them.
Shadwick says city staff may rip tents to reach those personal items if they believe there could be safety hazards. And she says wet tents can get moldy in storage, so city staff will often get rid of them. [Editor's note: Shadwick contacted KLCC after this story published to clarify that city staff "cut" tents, not "rip" them.]
She also says few people actually come to pick up their belongings—around 10% to 15%.
I also spoke to Etty with Barefoot Defenders about this process. She says people sometimes go to the storage facility only to find that many of their items are missing. She claims others have had all their belongings thrown away during sweeps. And she emphasizes just how traumatic and consequential she believes this can be.
Etty: “I know people who lost every single item they had except for what they had in their number one backpack. And that was too much, so they went out and they got drugs and they used and they overdosed and they died.”
McDonald: Are there other places for homeless people to sleep?
Wilk: Egan Warming Centers open on freezing nights. Jeremiah Perry-Weed with the aid group RAVEN says that’s a welcome resource for his clients.
But Etty says Egan isn’t a perfect solution for everyone. She says it can be triggering for people to be disconnected from their belongings, or simply not feasible to keep their dogs calmly housed in crates.
Another option is the Eugene Mission’s Rescue Shelter. The Mission's Community Engagement & Volunteer Manager, Mike Tardie, told me there’s a noticeable increase of people coming in every winter. And there are also several safe sleep sites in Eugene, as well as those types of public land where people can sleep legally.
McDonald: What other resources are available?
Wilk: There are multiple services that provide survival supplies for homeless people, including Barefoot Defenders, Black Thistle Street Aid, White Bird Clinic, and RAVEN.
I’d also like to note Neighbors Feeding Neighbors is still in Washington Jefferson Park, two months after the EPD told volunteers they could be arrested there. Blair Hickok, the group’s volunteer coordinator, told me that attendance has fallen due to concerns about police.
Neighbors Feeding Neighbors has now hired a lawyer, and are arguing their activities are protected under the Oregon Constitution’s clauses about freedom of speech and right to worship.
