Erasing Enforcement: Tactics of Criminalization
Tactics of Criminalization –
- Erasing Enforcement
- Denver Mayor wants to look progressive so finds every way possible to “erase” or make invisible houseless people, and the methods used to make houseless people invisible.
- Avoiding 7 day posted sweeps
- Don’t let get big – 50% increase in enforcement of anti-houseless laws in 2024
- Push to private property
- Avoiding Camping Ban tickets
- Move on orders
- Records are missing and messed up, but there has been something like 167% increase in 2024
- Tickets from 1 to 15 a year, slight recent increase
- Closed public areas
- 15 areas ‘closed’ post sweep
- 70% SET work is to patrol these areas
- Trespass tickets
- By far most used anti-houseless law
- 50% increase in trespass tickets in 2024
- Includes public property
- Warrant checks
- Profiling and running names
- FTA warrants prevalent (1,493 for trespass in 2023 and three months of 2024)
- 11 or 18 camping ban tickets lead to FTA warrants
- Majority turn into arrest and jail time
- Non-police enforcement
- Private security – most prevalent
- SET – All against houseless, “One male sleeping, full compliance, area clear”, 70% SET work is to patrol closed areas, only 41 of 2,134 contacts in 2023 include resource connection attempt (only 9 show actually connection)
- Yellow Vests – citizen enforcement, reporting houseless people
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