The Village of South Jacksonville Board of Trustees officially passed a ban on public camping on public property last night.
Similar ordinances around the state have drawn ire by homelessness advocates, saying it makes it a crime to be homeless in the U.S. In the wake of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Village Police Chief Eric Hansell says that the local police have been dealing with an uptick of unhoused individuals placing permanent encampments in wooded areas on public property around their patrol area for the two to three years.
Hansell says that initial citations for people caught camping on public ground would only be an ordinance violation at first: “It wouldn’t be a criminal offense. It would be an ordinance violation, so it would be monetary like a business offense. Hopefully, we won’t have things rise to a citation level, but more of a compliance level. What it does now, is gives [the police department] teeth to go in and say that we have an ordinance that prohibits you from camping on a public roadway or a public park area. We would basically educate an individual of the law, give them the opportunity to relocate, and provide them with resources to relocate. Then, clearly if they don’t, then we can post their camping spot. It gives them about 24 hours to clear out or remove their property. We would then go back in [if they don’t move] and then, retain their property for a certain amount of time, and then issue a citation. Again, like I said, my intentions are that we don’t have to rise to that level, but it does give us something that we can use if we need to go that direction.”
The ordinance is modeled after one drafted by the Illinois Municipal League in the wake of the Grants Pass v. Johnson decision in June. Hansell has previously said along with compliance, he hopes to also be able to better connect the homeless population to the resources they need to stay out of the elements or move to a better locale rather than creating makeshift encampments in public areas.