LAGUNA BEACH : Council to Consider Vagrant Ordinance

The City Council this week will consider an ordinance that would allow police to cite transients sleeping on private property without first warning them to move along.

Police Chief Neil Purcell said the law is needed to help officers handle trespassing vagrants who have become “a big problem” in the community. Police have on file about 250 letters from residents who want police action and are willing to testify in court against trespassers.

“We find them in the doorways of businesses, we find them on balconies, alcoves, you name it,” said Police Capt. Bill Cavanaugh, who drafted the ordinance. In one instance, a transient camped on Irvine Co. land next to the city long enough to harvest three crops before he was caught, Cavanaugh said.

Police said they had previously cited transients without warning, but a recent change in state law requires police to first give trespassers a chance to leave.

Occasionally, when a homeowner is away, a transient will start a fire or light a barbecue to keep warm, or even break into a home to sleep in a bed, Purcell said. “They’ll burrow underneath the home if they’re right off the ocean front,” Purcell said.