“To Determine the Extent and Cost of the Enforcement of ‘ Quality of Life’ Ordinances
Against Homeless Individuals in San Francisco during the Newsom Administration (January 2004-August 2007).”
In the early Spring of 2006, the Steering Committee members of Religious Witness* interviewed 194 homeless San Franciscans ensnared by this City’s aggressive enforcement of ‘quality of life’ ordinances. Below are excerpts from the conversation with these homeless individuals. These quotes reflect their experiences of anxiety, degradation and frustration, as well as their constant fear of arrest and incarceration —ALL of this resulting from the dark and cruel part of San Francisco’s Policy on Homelessness.
“They wake me up in the morning and threaten to arrest me if I don’t stand up and start walking. The drop-in centers are all full so I either walk or get ticketed. I can’t walk all day long. You can’t think straight if you’re this tired.”
“ I’ve got lots of tickets and I’m always tired because they don’t let you sleep. I’m scared of going to jail and if you’re this tired you forget things. I miss my appointments sometimes. I’m stuck.”
“I’ve stopped counting all the camping tickets. I wait about three hours a day in line (at soup kitchens) and if you don’t remember one of the court dates you get an (arrest) warrant. Can they send me to prison for not going to court? I don’t know.”
“I was sleeping in a tent in a hidden spot near the freeway. They gave me a ticket for trespassing. I don’t have money to pay it. I’ve never been to jail before. I keep to myself, but now they’re going to make me a convict for just sleeping.”
“You’re a lot less likely to get tickets if you hide deep inside (Golden Gate) park. But it’s really dangerous in there so I sleep on the (border) of the park. I overslept just a couple days ago and they gave me a ticket, but it’s better than getting beat up again or raped.”
“I’ve got 10 tickets for sleeping in park after checking out of the (emergency) shelter at 5:30 in the morning. Now I have (arrest) warrants out on me because I fell asleep. I try to hide every time I see the cops because now they can arrest me whenever they want. It’s like the cops either want me to be a zombie wandering around street or in jail.”
“I’ve gone to court five times now for sleeping in different places. You spend all day in court and you don’t have time to go get food or get in line for the shelter so you have to sleep outside again so they give you another ticket.”
Increased Confiscation of Vehicles & Property
“They gave me some tickets and then impounded my car and everything in it. I had clean clothes in my car. I was able to keep myself really clean before.”
“They gave me tickets and took my van. I’ve never seen it again. I used to sleep in that van. Now I usually sleep in the park, and that’s really dangerous.”
“I used to have a car but I had to keep moving it. I’d spend an hour or two a day moving my car around but I still kept getting tickets. I kept it really nice. It didn’t look like a ‘homeless car’. But they want to take your car and move you into a shelter.”
“They took my (truck) away because I slept in it in the mornings while I was waiting to get another construction job. Losing my truck was the worst thing that ever happened to me. I can’t get a job without my truck so now I’m on the street.”
“I only got a couple (sleeping in vehicle) tickets but I missed one of the court dates and you get a huge fine. I couldn’t pay that. They towed it and sold it and that’s why I’m out on the street now.”
“In about three weeks time the tickets added up to $1,000. I just couldn’t pay it and they took my car. I’m from Texas but I’m stuck in San Francisco forever now.”
Multiplied Obstacles & Hardships
“If you sit down for more than a couple minutes they give you a ticket. You can’t ever stop and rest. I’m always exhausted and I get sick a lot now.”
“You’re always on edge out here already because it’s dangerous. I can’t go to the cops now because they’ll probably just arrest me because of the(camping) tickets.”
“Just one ticket for sleeping can violate my parole and then I’ll be in (prison) with murderers.”
“I never got a ticket in my life for anything then I lost my job, couldn’t pay my rent, became homeless. I got tickets now and probably (arrest) warrants, all for just being in the park. They just keep beating me down deeper in the hole.”
“I went to Project Homeless Connect and they really helped me. Two days later they arrested me for not paying my tickets.”
“They city has started doing some really good things now but the cops just keeping doing bad things to us. It’s like they help you up then you slap you down.”