Agreement Barring Homeless Sweeps OKd
The City Council approved a lawsuit settlement Monday that will prevent police from targeting homeless people when conducting large-scale arrests at the Civic Center and elsewhere.
With the decision, reached during private executive session and later announced by city officials, the council effectively ended a class-action suit filed in September by Legal Aid Society lawyers, who termed the settlement a victory.
The suit stemmed from two police roundups conducted in August during which more than 90 homeless people were cited for a variety of minor infractions. Legal Aid lawyers branded the sweeps as unconstitutional harassment of the dozens of homeless people who spend the night on Civic Center grounds.
“They have made a wise decision that is good for the whole community,” said Robert Cohen, Legal Aid executive director. “It’s always hopeful to have a city that chooses not to implement a policy that is unlawful and inhumane.”
The settlement, however, does not prevent police from conducting further Civic Center patrols in search of suspected criminals. But it specifies that the homeless cannot be singled out for citation or arrest.
Cohen said the agreement would send an important message to police.
“It’s telling cops not to be irresponsible to the homeless and that the homeless should be treated with as much respect as judges and lawyers at the Civic Center,” he said.
Last week, Legal Aid introduced the settlement terms in a document filed in Orange County Superior Court. Cohen said attorneys for both sides of the suit had several meetings in which they discussed a settlement.
In the settlement, police also agree not to write identification numbers on the arms of suspects cited for city code infractions or misdemeanors and not to detain them for an excessive amount of time. The agreement further calls for police to stop using Santa Ana Stadium as a temporary holding facility for homeless suspects and not to handcuff and shackle homeless people who are accused of misdemeanors or infractions.
In the two police sweeps in August, homeless people were arrested and cited for municipal code infractions such as public drunkenness, littering and urinating in public. Seven people were arrested on outstanding criminal warrants.
In the first sweep, 64 homeless people were rounded up and transported to Santa Ana Stadium where police officers scrawled numbers on their arms for identification and then shackled them to benches for several hours before handing out citations. In the second sweep, suspects were cited and released.
In numerous interviews, Santa Ana Police Chief Paul M. Walters has said that the sweeps were aimed at criminals and did not target the homeless.
The settlement does not affect the criminal proceedings for the homeless who were arrested. They still face hearings on misdemeanor charges.
This is the second homeless suit the city has settled this year.
In February, the council agreed to pay $50,000 to 14 homeless people who sued Santa Ana in 1988 after their bedrolls and other personal property were confiscated and discarded by park employees.
As part of that settlement, the city also agreed not to conduct large-scale “maintainance” sweeps involving crews of workers moving through public areas. Instead, workers have been conducting routine cleanups, allowing the homeless to collect their possessions and move on.
