HOMELESS PATROLS KEEP THE PEACE
Service providers’ security teams do outreach while trying to clear sidewalks
SAN DIEGO
It didn’t take long before the security official making his rounds outside Father Joe’s Villages encountered a confrontation.
“Excuse me, sir, please don’t block the emergency exit,” Father Joe’s director of facilities and security, Oscar Arce, said to a man huddled against a door on 16th Street a block south of Imperial Avenue in downtown San Diego.
“Who are you, (expletive) security or what?” the man said.
Arce doesn’t wear a uniform, but keeping the peace outside the charity’s buildings is part of his job. Sensing the man was agitated and uncooperative, he made a quiet call for backup. Within a minute, three Father Joe’s security personnel, in uniform, arrived.
Without saying a word, the man in the doorway picked up his things and left.
Deacon Jim Vargas, president and CEO of Father Joe’s Villages, had joined Arce on the recent morning patrol and said the incident illustrated the nonprofit’s approach of de-escalating potential problems.
But the outcome wasn’t ideal. “He’s not doing well,” Vargas said.
As a provider of shelter and services for homeless people, Vargas said Father Joe’s does not want to see a person walk away from help.
“Next time Oscar encounters this guy, maybe he’ll be in a better state of mind and he’ll remember that Oscar wasn’t belligerent with him,” Vargas said. “Maybe he’ll be willing to come in and accept services or come in and have lunch.”
Vargas said Father Joe’s patrols its property to be a good neighbor, but he’s also aware that the effort can result in moving a concentration of homeless people a block away.
“This is challenging,” he said. “We know there are hundreds of people still on the street. We as a community have to continue to work on that.
“Just pushing people from one area to the other isn’t the answer.”
Like other service providers in downtown San Diego, Father Joe’s has security outside as well as inside its building. Each do patrols differ
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