County to ban public camping to help protect precious homeless population

Last week, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to draft an Unsafe Camping Ban that would prevent homeless encampments from being set up on public land. The ban would “remove improperly stored items on public property, and protect vacant property from fire and pollution,” according to the Board’s agenda. “But really, it’s not just about keeping our vacant lots free of meth and stolen bike frames,” says homeless advocate Linda Carrington. “It’s about keeping people safe.” Carrington shared the above encounter in La Jolla to illustrate her point. “First, as you can see here, the person experiencing homelessness is accosted by another man while he attempts to cross the street toward his campsite. He struggles, but his assailants perform a coordinated attack, and eventually pin him to the ground. Then they begin punching him, even though he is under their control. Even after he is subdued, another member of the attacking gang runs up to join in the violence. By the end, no less than four of these ‘Boyz in Blue’ are assaulting this man, just because he pissed on their turf. We have to protect innocent members of the homeless community from this kind of violence. That’s why we need this ban.”