Police Sweep San Diego Riverbed For Squatters
Homeless Offered Housing, Treatment Options
April 21, 2005
SAN DIEGO -- San Diego police and prosecutors launched a =
homeless sweep along the San Diego River Thursday that displaced several =
squatter camps.=20
--------------------------------------------------------------------
IMAGES: Police Sweep Riverbed=20
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The police department's homeless team accompanied =
prosecutors and police officers, offering homeless men and women =
treatment programs and housing, NBC 7/39 reported. Sentences for drugs =
and stolen property ranged from volunteer work to mandatory =
participation in detox centers. =20
One man caught up in the sweep said living in the riverbed =
was preferable to where he was living before.=20
"I was living with a friend up off of Gaines Street, but =
that was a bunch of chaos," said Mark Van Winkle. "I opted for this. I =
met a really good lady."=20
Law enforcement said the periodic sweeps have helped to =
reduce illegal, unsafe and unsanitary living conditions. Past sweeps =
have turned up dozens of stolen bicycles and a shack with running water =
and electricity.=20
"We used to have up to 80 camps and now there's probably =
20," said Deputy City Attorney Regan Savalla. "You could see by the =
magnitude of the debris, this is a significant decrease."=20
Officers said they will post signs warning homeless people =
not to camp in the riverbed.=20
Copyright 2005 by NBCSandiego.com. All rights reserved. This =
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
=20
=20
=20
=20
------=_NextPart_001_008E_01C546BD.C9B40A70
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
NBCSandiego.com - News - Police Sweep San Diego =
Riverbed For Squatters
Police Sweep San Diego Riverbed For=20
Squatters
Homeless Offered Housing, Treatment=20
Options
April 21, =
2005
SAN DIEGO --=20
San Diego police and prosecutors launched a homeless =
sweep along=20
the San Diego River Thursday that displaced several squatter =
camps.=20
IMAGES: Police Sweep Riverbed=20
The police department's homeless team accompanied =
prosecutors=20
and police officers, offering homeless men and women =
treatment=20
programs and housing, NBC 7/39 reported. Sentences for drugs =
and=20
stolen property ranged from volunteer work to mandatory=20
participation in detox centers.=20
One man caught up in the sweep said living in the =
riverbed=20
was preferable to where he was living before.=20
"I was living with a friend up off of Gaines Street, =
but that=20
was a bunch of chaos," said Mark Van Winkle. "I opted for =
this. I=20
met a really good lady."=20
Law enforcement said the periodic sweeps have helped =
to=20
reduce illegal, unsafe and unsanitary living conditions. =
Past sweeps=20
have turned up dozens of stolen bicycles and a shack with =
running=20
water and electricity.=20
"We used to have up to 80 camps and now there's =
probably 20,"=20
said Deputy City Attorney Regan Savalla. "You could see by =
the=20
magnitude of the debris, this is a significant decrease."=20
Officers said they will post signs warning homeless =
people=20
not to camp in the riverbed.=20
Copyright 2005 by NBCSandiego.com. All=20
rights reserved. This material may not be published, =
broadcast,=20
rewritten or redistributed.