How far will Phoenix take its new power to crack down on homeless camps?
In imposing a November deadline to demolish the homeless encampment known as “The Zone,” a judge laid into Phoenix for letting conditions spiral out of control.
But his ruling also liberated Phoenix.
How much advantage will the city take?
Phoenix was wrong to be so hands-off
The city had based its law enforcement policy around The Zone in part on a flawed interpretation of a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in 2019 restricting prosecution of homeless individuals sleeping outside in public areas when no alternative sleeping space is available.
Instead of taking it easy just on those who bed down on sidewalks, Phoenix swung the pendulum. It took a hands-off approach on offenses associated with homelessness — loitering, public urination, disorderly conduct and the like — as well as on serious crimes.
Neighbors experienced a spike of unsheltered individuals who set up tents and makeshift structures.
Human waste and trash and acts of lewdness became commonplace.
Access to properties and businesses got blocked. Residents and visitors were accosted, some burglarized. Calls to police became an exercise in futility and frustration.
The area turned into a cesspool constituting a threat to public health and safety.
Ruling allows the city to hit a hard reset
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney’s ruling last week gives the city of Phoenix an opportunity to hit a hard reset.
His preliminary injunction in late March ordering the dismantling of The Zone provided a prelude of what’s possible:
Police stepped up enforcement, violent crimes dropped, as did property crimes. (He qualified it: “The Zone is still dangerous — one of the more dangerous parts of Phoenix.”)
Weekly counts of homeless individuals in the area in recent weeks dropped to about 500 (from a high of more than 1,000 last summer).
More notably, Judge Blaney posited that Phoenix has the power to enforce anti-camping ordinances with more boldness — and is not handcuffed by the 9th Circuit decision, Martin v. City of Boise, as Phoenix believed.
He asserts, based on witness testimony in the trial, that a number of people living on the streets are voluntarily homeless — that is, they have access to housing or resources to afford housing, but choose to be on the streets.
People who are not meant to be shielded from prosecution by the Martin decision.
Will Phoenix go as far as the judge allows?
“(T)he most glaring misinterpretation of the Martin and Grants Pass opinions is the inference that anyone who has erected a tent or other structure in the public rights of way is intrinsically unable to otherwise obtain shelter. The Court rejects such a broad, unsupported inference,” Blaney wrote.
The judge said in the ruling that Phoenix doesn’t have to prove that someone in The Zone who put up a tent or temporary structure had turned down shelter services or was otherwise voluntarily homeless before it acts.
Why is Phoenix homelessness: Among the nation's worst?
Instead, anyone invoking Martin has the burden to provide evidence that the person could not obtain shelter or the “offending conduct is an unavoidable consequence of his or her status.”
Whether Phoenix goes as far as Blaney allows — or whether there’s a need to — is an open question.
Homeless campground is a big factor
A big part of the reset centers on Phoenix’s recent acquisition of a 5.5-acre parcel near the Human Services Campus that provides services for homeless people and pending conversion into a secure, shaded campground.
The campground idea had been booted around for several years — although Blaney noted in his ruling that Phoenix aggressively pursued to make it happen only after the court issued the temporary order.
The outdoor space is expected to take up to 300 people off the street.
People who truly can’t find room in shelters would presumably opt for the campground and observe its list of rules, which includes a code of conduct and no alcohol or drugs.
How large a population remains from The Zone and what problems they pose to the neighborhood might put options from Blaney’s ruling in play.
Reach Abe Kwok at akwok@azcentral.com. On X, formerly Twitter: @abekwok.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix homeless ruling lets city crack down on lawbreakers. Will it?
