'Being homeless is not illegal': How would the City of Portland enforce proposed camping ban?

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- The City of Portland is set to make a decision Wednesday on the proposed camping ordinance changes, including banning camps during the day.

However, there are also plenty of questions still surrounding how they'll be enforced. When announcing the proposed ordinance, Mayor Wheeler's office says repeat violations could result in criminal enforcement, such as fines.

"These are people who, in our experience, have nothing, nothing to their name," said Scott Kerman, executive director of Blanchet House. "I think the expectation that we're going to be able to collect money from fines is probably not well-founded."

Some of the changes that could eventually lead to those repercussions include camping between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. or camping in certain places like parks or near schools. The mayor's office says if a homeless person is offered shelter or housing and they then decline, they are prohibited from camping and would first receive two warnings and if it happens a third time, it could land them with jail time or fines.

"I think the city has been careful to avoid stating that there are going to be people who are arrested. I think there's still a lot we don't know about how the city plans for enforcement to play out. I think we should certainly acknowledge the fact that we have a lot of systems in our community that are stressed beyond the pale, whether it's our jails, our criminal justice system, our mental health system, our hospitals," said Kerman. "The fact that people who are incarcerated and awaiting trial can't easily get representation because we don't have enough defense attorneys, criminal defense attorneys, public defenders in Oregon. This kind of enforcement isn't going to make all of those situations easier, so I think there are really valid questions that need to be answered about how is this really going to play out and what do we expect the result and the outcome to be?"

According to the mayor's office, the Portland Police Bureau would manage enforcement -- but this is one more thing on their plate as they face staffing challenges and tackle gun violence and property crime.

"The reality is, we don't have enough police officers," said Aaron Schmautz, president of the Portland Police Association, the bureau's union. "I think there was one day a couple weeks ago where just for the day, we were 45 officers under for the day. We are very short-staffed and that's a symptom of many things. The reality though is officers are getting dispatched to all these calls, all these concerns, and having tools to address those concerns and making sure we have a place to help people get where they need to go is very important. Two things can be true at once. We definitely have a staffing issue. We also have a resourcing tool issue. I think we're hopeful we can kind of start moving back to a place where we have those tools."

Schmautz says moving forward, there needs to be communication between the city and county on what outreach and potential enforcement will look like.

"Being homeless is not illegal. We're not going to arrest our way out of that problem. I think it's important for the community to hear that. We recognize we are not the solution to that humanitarian issue. There are issues that are also attached to that kind of problem when you have livability issues, you have low-level crime issues, you have something as simple as cleanliness issues. Police can be a partner in that solution, but we're not the solution," said Schmautz. "We need to know what the expectation of law enforcement is and if our role is merely to be kind of scene security while other folks come and can help folks who are in crisis. Who are those people, how do we call them, or how do we get them there."

Kerman also recognizes the potential pitfalls the enforcement could present.

"If we're going forward with this, that there be sufficient training and also guardrails to ensure that enforcement is not inequitable and doesn't land more heavy on people who don't look like you and me," said Kerman.

The ordinance will have a second reading by the city council Wednesday afternoon before it then heads to a vote. If it passes, the ordinance would go into effect on July 1.