The San Jose City Council voted to make homeless people eligible for arrest if they refuse to take up offers for shelter.
In a 9-2 vote, the council moved to amend the city’s encampment code to incorporate a “responsibility to shelter” provision.
“I think we need a cultural change, a culture of accountability for everyone involved,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan told reporters ahead of the vote. “I don’t want to use the criminal justice system to make vulnerable people’s lives harder. I want to use it as a last resort.”
Upon announcing the initiative in March, Mahan said responsibility is a “two-way street.”
“We’re holding ourselves responsible for doubling our supply of safe, dignified places for people to go — it’s time we held our homeless neighbors responsible for coming indoors,” he stated. “Because in San Jose, homelessness should never be a choice.”
The effort involves providing homeless individuals with written warnings if they refuse opportunities to take shelter twice. Those refusing shelter for a third time are subject to arrest.
The city council’s move follows Governor Gavin Newsom’s (D) call for state leaders to crack down on homeless encampments.
All local approaches to encampments are to reflect “three basic principles,” which are prohibiting criminal punishment for those “sleeping outside when they have nowhere else to go;” prioritizing shelter and services to ensure homeless individuals are “treated with respect;” and refraining from limiting local authorities from clearing encampments,” Newsom’s model ordinance described.
“There is no compassion in abandoning Californians to the dangers and indignities of encampments. Encampments pose a serious public safety risk, often causing fires and exposing encampment residents to increased risk of sexual violence and criminal activity, to property damage and break-ins, and unsanitary conditions affecting both residents and neighbors,” the model ordinance states.
