Galt strives to find homeless solutions
Like many cities across the state, big and small, Galt has not been immune to homeless issues as the high cost of housing, a drug epidemic, mental illness and other factors put more and more people on the street.
The Galt City Council on Tuesday listened to a report from the Galt Police Department on issues related to homelessness in the city.
“I asked for this report two weeks ago,” Galt Mayor Lori Heuer said on Wednesday. “This is an issue I’ve been involved with working on for the past couple of years.”
Galt police have found 22 illegal homeless camps within the city limits since 2015 and have cleaned up 16 of them through partnerships with property owners, community volunteers and the Sacramento County Work Project, among other groups.
As the police department fields more calls related to homelessness, officers and city officials seek solutions that protect the rights and safety of citizens, property owners and businesses while also treating the homeless in a humane manner and pointing them to resources that can help change their plight.
“We take the concerns of the citizens in the areas of the homeless camps very seriously and we have spent numerous hours making contact with people in the camps, attempting to find them resources, coordination with outside agencies, reaching out to property owners and working diligently to find solutions to these issues,” Lt. Richard Small wrote in an email. “We have worked to clean up several camps in the city limits and to help the homeless in those camps find needed resources. We have experienced tremendous success using this approach and we will continue to address the issue.”
Areas that have had homeless-related problems include Twin Cities Road at Highway 99, Canyon Creek Park and behind businesses on 1067 C St., the report noted.
Although Galt police are unaware of any camps in the city as of July 27, the report said approximately 15 homeless people currently occupy a camp along Dry Creek, with 10 of them living in San Joaquin County’s jurisdiction
“I’ve been down to the camp personally,” Heuer said. “I talked to the folks living down there, and they’ve been down there for a while. It’s a fairly large camp with a lot of belongings, so it’s going to take a lot of cleanup.”
Police reported that 66 percent of the Dry Creek camp occupants admitted to having addiction issues, with 80 percent of them having refused services.
The Dry Creek camp could cause contamination from human and animal waste, rotting food, discarded hypodermic needles and air- and bloodborne pathogens, the report said, and possibly prevent emergency vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists from safely accessing the area.
“I’m really concerned about the environmental issues with the camp,” Heuer said. “There’s the sanitation issue, and what it does to the community as a whole.”
Private property owners are responsible for cleaning up illegal camps on their land, the report said, and investigations into “homeless hot spots” have led to arrests for petty theft, drug charges, assault and more.
Two active tents were also found within the Galt city limits as of July, the report said, with four occupants cited for trespassing on private property and the occupants cleaning up the tents and clearing the site within 72 hours.
While the tents can be cleared from city limits, homeless issues remain.
“The people who are living in the encampments do come into the city since it is the closest location where resources are available,” Small said. “We do respond to calls for service regarding panhandling and subjects going through recycling containers. However, these calls do not always involve homeless individuals but sometimes they do. We also receive calls for service from business owners and citizens regarding subjects loitering near businesses or walking through neighborhoods. However, many of the activities that are reported are not criminal in nature.”
Heuer said Galt city staff are looking into whether the Dry Creek property is owned by San Joaquin County, private owners or the California Department of Fish and Wildlife — as part of Dry Creek is a protected native wildlife area — before hopefully working with those groups and others to clean up the encampment.
“I think, as a community, we’re doing the right thing,” Heuer said. “The police department is definitely doing the right thing to address the human issue.”
The Galt Police Department has increased patrols around the encampment to enforce trespassing, loitering and camping laws, the report said, and to contact the homeless people living there.
“The police know every one of them by name,” Heuer said. “They’re building trust with the homeless, because we do want to help them get services.”