Outside shelter gates, order must be restored
The Interfaith Community Shelter at Pete’s Place was created with the best of intentions — to prevent people living without shelter from freezing to death on the streets.
In 2006-07, 21 homeless men and women died during a brutal winter after exposure to the elements. Santa Fe’s faith leaders decided such disregard for the most vulnerable was untenable. Shelter was provided in 2007-08 at a few local churches and at the Salvation Army while volunteer leaders worked toward a more permanent solution.
That became the Interfaith Community Shelter at Pete’s Place, which has operated on the corner of Cerrillos and Harrison roads since the winter of 2009-10. Its name, Pete’s Place, came from Pete’s Pets, the pet store that had vacated the area after a fire.
Increasingly, others who work or live nearby believe that Pete’s Place, and the people who use it, don’t belong in their neighborhood.
Outside the gates of Pete’s Place, in the streets and in nearby parking lots, people congregate. Many, if not most, do not regularly go to Pete’s. They don’t follow the rules. Some do drugs, sleep, have sex, perform bodily functions and make it difficult for motorists to drive through Harrison Road. The gathering of people is unsightly, unsanitary, unpleasant — and unsafe.
Last week’s officer-involved shooting near Pete’s Place once again has neighbors — and residents across town — shaking their heads and demanding action. The individual wounded by Santa Fe police officers is accused of entering Café Castro, where he grabbed a butcher knife before having an altercation with the manager.
The man, identified as Jermaine Garcia, then went into the parking lot and attempted to carjack a family and tried to steal a purse from a woman, state police alleged. A brave restaurant employee intervened, with the suspect charging the man and brandishing the knife overhead.
Garcia, 37, then left the Castro parking lot and headed toward the intersection of Cerrillos and Harrison, where he encountered city police officers. After they tried and failed to engage Garcia, he approached a police car, struck a window with the knife and broke it. He kept brandishing the knife, with onlookers close by. Two attempts to stop Garcia with Tasers didn’t work, according to state police. He charged an officer while carrying the knife and was shot.
Garcia remains in a local hospital, where he was being treated for his wounds. Though he was not a shelter regular — he is banned from the property — he was on officials’ radar, as are many of the people loitering outside the gates of Pete’s Place.
It’s wrong to assign blame to the shelter for crimes outside the gates, but that doesn’t mean the congregating of so many people in the streets near the shelter can be ignored or tolerated. The situation must be addressed thoughtfully and immediately.
Although solutions are difficult — easy fixes would have been executed years ago — there are some steps that could be taken: regular, frequent and consistent police patrols and greater enforcement of drug laws. Keep the streets clear of people and stop trespassing on private property. It’s also important to continue outreach to people outside the gates in hopes of moving them off the streets and into rehabilitation or housing.
One thing is certain. Santa Fe, from government to individual citizens, must refuse to accept this misguided notion: There’s nothing more that can be done.
City Councilor Alma Castro, owner of the restaurant, has been outspoken since her campaign last year about the city’s need to deal with crime and safety on the Cerrillos Road corridor. She knows firsthand the struggles area business owners face — petty crimes, public defecation, omnipresent trash, and threats to customers and staff.
Last week, danger hit home in a frightening manner. Just as exposure deaths nearly two decades ago galvanized Santa Fe to do better, this shooting must move us to find long-term solutions — using compassion, common sense and determination as a guide.