AP PHOTOS: Ga. officer patrols homeless camps

Associated Press

May 2, 2014 at 2:55 PM

In this Monday, Dec. 9, 2013 photo, Savannah Metro Police Department Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner, right, gathers contact information from a young couple who are living in homeless Camp 8 South under the ramps of the Truman Parkway in Savannah, Ga. Since September 2013 the Savannah police department gave Gentner the task of keeping track of over three hundred homeless people living near the historic downtown area. The couple later found temporary housing with the help of Gentner. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

In this Monday, Dec. 9, 2013 photo, a homeless man talks to Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner about new people who arrived to a nearby campsite in Savannah, Ga. Gentner has built a relationship of trust with the homeless population around Savannah. They keep him informed about camp activities and he addresses their needs as they arise. Gentner's duties include settling disputes, documenting camp residents and checking their criminal backgrounds. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

In this Friday, Dec. 13, 2013 photo, A young homeless woman known as "Crystal," center, thanks Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner for her new wheelchair at Camp 8 South under the Truman Parkway in Savannah, Ga. Her previous wheelchair was damaged by rocks on a path to the camp, and he contacted Savannah Christian Church who found a used wheelchair for donation. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

In this Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013 photo, Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner leads a group of homeless men living under a highway overpass in Savannah, Ga. to his patrol car to give them donated items from an Army soldier at Hunter Army Airfield who collected tarps, tents, rope, jackets and other supplies. A large part of Gentner's job is to organize charitable donations and ensure their safety during distribution. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

In this Friday, Feb. 7, 2014 photo, Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner races to the arrest of one of the homeless residents under his watch on the west side of Savannah, Ga. Gentner spotted the woman in a known area frequented by prostitutes outside his precinct boundaries and organized a sting operation that morning to arrest her. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

In this Friday, Feb. 7, 2014 photo, Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner talks to one of the homeless residents he keeps track of after she was arrested for prostitution on the west side of Savannah, Ga. Gentner spotted the woman in an area known for prostitution outside his precinct boundaries and organized a sting operation earlier in the morning. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

In this Monday, Dec. 9, 2013 photo, Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner, right, tries to make eye contact with a homeless man known as "K.B." who started a fight with residents in an area called the Bamboo Forest in Savannah, Ga. Gentner documents, monitors and mediates all 20 camps in the area, keeping the peace and monitoring the activities of the diverse population. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

In this Monday, Dec. 9, 2013 photo, Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner talks with two long-time residents of the Bamboo Forest camp in Savannah, Ga. Building trust with the city's homeless population is a tool that Gentner uses to keep the peace in the camps and garner information from the over 300 homeless men and women living there. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

In this Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013 photo, a homeless man takes a quick swig of beer that was hidden in his sleeve while Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner, center, meets with a group of volunteers in Savannah, Ga. Gentner uses a balance of tolerance and enforcement to keep the peace and earn the trust of the over 300 people living in the 20 homeless camps around the Historic District. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

In this Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014 photo, Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner stands in the entrance to a tent as he searches for a suspected felon near the camps under the overpass of the Talmadge Memorial Bridge in Savannah, Ga. One of Gentner's homeless informants told him the new couple was bragging about skipping out on a $50,000 bond in Florida and being on the run from a felony charge of methamphetamine dealing. The were later arrested. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

In this Monday, Dec. 9, 2013 photo, Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner walks on a makeshift drawbridge outside an abandoned building while checking on people living in the structure in Savannah, Ga. The owner asked Gentner to evacuate the building so it can be donated to the fire department for training exercises. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

In this Friday, Jan. 3, 2014 photo, Savannah Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner meets with Citizen Office Director Susan Broker about giving a name to a remote street near Camp 7 East in Savannah, Ga. More than half of Gentner's work week is spent in meetings with city, county administrations and advocacy groups concerning the over 300 homeless living in the downtown precinct. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

In this Monday, Dec. 9, 2013 photo, Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner, center, uses a map to show a group from the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia where they plan to hold a Christmas service in Camp 8 South under the Truman Parkway, in Savannah, Ga. Since being named homeless liaison in 2013, Gentner designated camp boundaries by using features in the terrain, numbering each one to help emergency services with locations. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)

In this Friday, Dec. 13, 2013 photo, Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner sorts through paper phone messages he picked up from the police station while sitting in his patrol car during a visit to a camp under the Truman Parkway in Savannah, Ga. Gentner has had no more budget than a typical patrol officer who rides a beat, but after being awarded by the department for his work with the homeless, he will be assigned a new SUV to help him get to remote locations. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

In this Friday, Dec. 13, 2013 photo, Savannah's Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner's is reflected in the shaving mirror of a homeless man at Camp 7 in Savannah, Ga. Residents call the area the "Bamboo Forest" because of the acres of the dense plants which conceal their community of fenced off encampments. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

In this Friday, Jan. 3, 2014 photo, Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner stands on the door frame of his police cruiser to check the depth of floodwaters blocking his access to one of the city's 20 homeless camps in Savannah, Ga. Several of the camps are in remote sections of town surrounding the historic district. After being awarded by the department for his work with the homeless, he will be assigned a new SUV for his job. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

In this Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013 photo, Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner takes notes on a homeless couple who recently moved into a wooded area near the boundaries of his district in Savannah, Ga. Gentner is the only officer in Savannah who interacts daily with the homeless community in town, many living in remote locations. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

In this Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013 photo, Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner, right, leads a group wanting to donate clothing past a memorial for a woman who died in a tent fire in Camp 2 in a wooded area behind the Savannah College of Art and Design's Boundary Village in Savannah, Ga. The tent ignited from the sparks of a nearby campfire. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

In this Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013 photo, Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner climbs over highway railing after visiting a camp underneath while on his daily rounds to 20 homeless camps surrounding the Historic District in Savannah, Ga. The homeless in Savannah live under highway bridges, ramps, and the urban forest surrounding downtown. Part of Gentner's job is to document newcomers and check criminal activity. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

In this Monday, Dec. 9, 2013 photo, Savannah Metro Police Department Homeless Liaison Officer Tom Gentner, right, gathers contact information from a young couple who are living in homeless Camp 8 South under the ramps of the Truman Parkway in Savannah, Ga. Since September 2013 the Savannah police department gave Gentner the task of keeping track of over three hundred homeless people living near the historic downtown area. The couple later found temporary housing with the help of Gentner. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Officer Tom Gentner works a police beat few Savannah residents ever see, patrolling 20 rustic camps populated by hundreds of homeless people tucked away in the woods and under highway overpasses.

Savannah-Chatham County police assigned Gentner as the department's homeless liason last year. He gets no partner and no extra budget. Just a patrol car he drives down dirt roads to camps with names like Bamboo Forest and Hob-Knob Hill. He keeps a milk crate in the trunk containing files he's compiled on many of the 360 homeless residents.

"He keeps the riffraff out of here," said Larry Lewis, who lives at one of the camps.

When a couple wanted for jumping bail in Florida moved into one of the Savannah camps, residents tipped off Gentner. Besides investigating crimes, he also mediates disputes between camp residents and helps charities organize food and blanket donations.

The following images show Gentner on the job working the homeless beat.

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AP PHOTOS: Ga. officer patrols homeless camps