Police, Mental Health Case Workers Sweep Illegal Encampments

Pasadena police, Park Safety specialists and Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health workers conducted sweeps of 13 illegal encampments of homeless people near freeway right-of-ways in Pasadena on Tuesday, according to a city report.

The operations were spurred by “quality-of-life” issues — Interim Pasadena Chief of Police Jason Clawson said the locations are known to have had activities related to homelessness, such as open fires, trespassing, narcotics, drinking in public, urinating/defecating in public, loitering, and vandalism.

Pasadena police Homeless Outreach and Psychological Evaluation units (called H.O.P.E. teams) consist of police officers who partner with County of Los Angeles mental health clinicians. They assess a homeless person’s needs for services, and the team has access to resources such as clothing, food, shelters, substance abuse treatment facilities and health clinics.

H.O.P.E. officers receive training in crisis intervention, crisis negotiation, drug and alcohol recognition training and enforcement strategies geared specifically for the homeless and mentally ill.

In his report on the operations, Clawson said the mission on Tuesday was to contact people who were found at these encampments, engage with them and give out Care Packages, assist them with shelter information, inform them of housing opportunities, and provide COVID-19 education and safety precautions.

The team contacted nine people in the encampments along freeway embankments in Pasadena, Clawson said in the report.

Those who were found on state property were given a warning citation for trespassing and ordered to vacate the property within 72 hours.

Information gathered at these locations will be shared with California Highway Patrol and CalTrans so that a cleanup will be coordinated in the near future, Clawson said.