A group of local organizations is suing the city of Tucson to prevent homeless encampment sweeps ahead of the tourist-luring Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase slated to begin Jan. 28.
The complaint filed in Arizonaβs U.S. District Court Tuesday alleges the city plans to βhide the regionβs unhoused population from public view by trespassing them from public parks in the coming weeksβ ahead of the anticipated arrival of thousands of guests for the two-week landmark event.
The allegations center around Santa Rita Park β a downtown hub known for its significant presence of both unsheltered people and social services. The plaintiffs said they received notice through an internal city email that the parkβs homeless population will be displaced in the coming weeks but did not disclose the email to the Star to avoid compromising their source.
The city adamantly denies it is preparing to sweep the encampment ahead of the gem show.
City Attorney Mike Rankin wrote in an email: βThis allegation is untrue. It is, in fact, demonstrably false. City enforcement actions are based on established protocols that prioritize enforcement based on the threat to public safety. These protocols include extensive efforts to provide services to the unsheltered persons who might be affected, in advance of enforcement,β and provided a link to Tucsonβs homeless encampment protocol and reporting tool.
The city launches the protocol when βa homeless camp, located on City property or private property, poses a threat to public safety, causes a major criminal or health concern, or when there is camping in any City park after hours,β the homeless protocol website says.
Tucson launched a new reporting tool for the public to report homeless encampments in October. Based on the danger the reported encampments pose to the public, inhabitants are either allowed to stay after cleanup or forced to leave with 72 hoursβ notice.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit β Community on Wheels, Community Care Tucson and the Peopleβs Defense Initiative β are asking the court to stop the city from issuing arrests and citations for Tucsonβs anti-camping and after-hours ordinances to βindividuals who practically cannot obtain shelterβ because the number of unsheltered people in the city outweighs the number of shelter beds available, the complaint says.
City code says the penalty for violating the ordinances that prohibit camping, lodging or sleeping in city parks from 10:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. is up to six months in jail or a fine of up to $1,000.
Due to the discrepancy between the number of homeless individuals and shelter beds, the lawsuit says the city is in violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment and the Fourteenth Amendment right to due process.
The lawsuit says there are about 3,000 unsheltered people experiencing homelessness throughout the city and 859 emergency shelter beds, based on estimates from the Pima County Homeless Management Information System, a database for local social service providers.
The complaint cites the 2019 Martin v. City of Boise ruling that said the city of Boiseβs ordinances banning public camping and sleeping outside on public property violated the Eighth Amendment because it imposed sanctions against unsheltered people for sleeping outdoors when alternative shelter space was not available.
The lawsuit also alleges city workers βintend to seize the property of houseless individuals existing in public parks, without affording them a post-deprivation process for challenging the seizure of their property.β
Billy Peard, a paralegal working on the case, said while he acknowledges the cityβs housing-first protocol and other efforts to help people access low-barrier housing, βjust because you give resources and then you violate their rights, doesnβt mean you didnβt violate their rights.β
Community on Wheels, one of the plaintiffs in the case that supplies basic necessities to homeless people at Santa Rita Park, and other local homeless advocacy groups, have put callouts for supporters to attend Tucson Mayor and Councilβs Jan. 24 meeting to demand a stop to any displacement of homeless people throughout the city.
Many advocacy groups engaged in the same βpack the courtβ initiative in August when City Council approved a master plan for Santa Rita Park and advocates expressed concern about the park renovations displacing the areaβs homeless population.
βOur immediate demand is to not only postpone but to cease the city sweeps going on toward houseless individuals here. A longer-term demand is to, in my opinion, allocate funding for city-funded advocates who are able to go into encampments and actually work with these people to make resources and housing accessible,β said Victoria DeVasto, a member of Community on Wheels. βIf you actually sit down and talk to the people that are in these areas, they donβt get help.β
Peard said the plaintiffs plan to file a motion for preliminary injunction to expedite the case on Friday.
In San Francisco, homeless people and their advocates are asking a federal judge to issue an emergency order to stop the city from destroying tent encampments.
