Vancouver officials and police conducted a cleanup of a popular spot for homeless campers on the streets near Share House on Wednesday morning.
Vancouver Police Department spokeswoman Kim Kapp confirmed the cleanup, noting that officers help do so regularly.
Neighborhood police Officer Tyler Chavers said it’s generally a weekly happening, primarily on Wednesday but sometimes Thursday.
Vancouver Department of Public Works, the city’s Code Compliance Team and officers coordinate, Chavers said, noting that officers are there for security.
Officers post notices in the area in advance so the campers are aware of what is going to happen. The notices include the date and time of an upcoming cleanup, lists information about the city’s camping ordinance, and includes camping “expectations,” such as anyone camping should be packed up and prepared to move by 6:30 a.m.
The neighborhood streets surrounding Share House, a 43-bed men’s shelter, are often filled with tents occupied by local homeless.
Workers generally start in the area around the shelter during cleanups, but the targeted spots are dependent on what’s reported and found.
Other areas regularly cleared include Esther Short and Old Apple Tree parks, as well as the Vancouver waterfront, although camping there has diminished somewhat with ongoing construction, Chavers said.
The police department says the purpose of the cleanups is sanitation, not harassing and arresting the homeless. According to Chavers, the camps accumulate 30 yards of trash or more each week.
“We can’t arrest our way out of this situation,” the officer said. “We never will.”
The Council for the Homeless recently released results from the Point in Time count, an annual census of the homeless population taken on a single day in January, and determined the number of people who live outside in Clark County is up 39 percent from last year.
According to the count done on Jan. 25, there were 421 people living in shelters and 374 people living outside.
