DRUGS, ILLEGAL WEAPONS FOUND AT CAMP

Homeless site along Oceanside Boulevard has caused controversy

A relatively clean homeless encampment just off of Oceanside Boulevard has a dark side involving drugs and illegal weapons, Oceanside Police Chief Fred Armijo said after several arrests were made at the site in recent weeks.

“There’s been a lot of criminal activity, unfortunately, that we’ve had to address there,” Armijo said about the highly visible encampment alongside South Oceanside Boulevard in front of the Oceanside Town & Country shopping center just east of Interstate 5.

The encampment was created by Rodney Mcgough, a homeless man who refers to the site as a trauma-informed care center and a place for people living without shelter to feel safe. The camp site started in late 2019 with Mcgough setting up a few tents each night but it is now a 24-hour fixture with more than 30 people.

The encampment has had its supporters and detractors, with many people bringing supplies to homeless people there while others have called the site a blight that is driving people away from the shopping center.

Armijo said complaints about homeless activity on the block have grown over the past few months, with 85 calls for service so far this month.

On Wednesday, officers arrested one person for possession of methamphetamine, three people for possession of paraphernalia to use methamphetamine, one person for loitering for the purpose of drug activity and two people for possession of illegal weapons such as brass knuckles, he said.

People arrested for possession of methamphetamine or illegal weapons normally would be booked into jail, but Armijo said they were cited