ALERT: San Francisco cops deny homeless sweeps FWD

Tom Boland (wgcp@earthlink.net)
Thu, 29 Oct 1998 08:48:31 -0400 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/examiner/archive/1998/10/28/NEWS
12246.dtl
FWD  San Francisco Examiner  Oct. 28, 1998  Page A 4


  HOMELESS DECRY POOLICE ORDERS TO MOVE ALONG
  Cops deny claims they are cracking down on transients
  in shopping areas, tourist districts

  By Jim Herron Zamora of the Examiner Staff


       Homeless people and their advocates are complaining that police are
unfairly cracking down all over The City, especially near Union Square and
South of Market.

       Several homeless people said Tuesday that police ordered them to
keep away from tourist areas such as the Powell Street cable car turnaround
and San Francisco Shopping Centre.

       "They want us out of sight," Willie Sparks said. "They keep telling
us to back off from Fifth and Market (streets). They're afraid we'll scare
the tourists."

       Sparks was one of eight homeless men who said they were either cited
by police for obstructing sidewalks and doorways or ordered to move along
on Tuesday.

       Capt. Dennis Martel, who commands police in the South of Market
area, denied that there were any homeless sweeps along the Fifth or Sixth
street corridors. He said that any police activity there was part of
normal, routine enforcement.

       Advocates for the homeless said the police have quietly increased
enforcement throughout The City, but especially in the Castro and Haight,
as well as downtown shopping areas.

       "It's happening all over San Francisco but the places where the
merchants are complaining is where we've heard police are being the most
aggressive," said Mara Raider, an outreach worker with the Coalition on
Homelessness. "The laws are definitely being used selectively against the
homeless and poor people."

       Raider and other advocates for the homeless expect the crackdown to
accelerate after Mayor Brown's State of The City speech Monday.

       In his speech, Brown vowed to continue a humane approach toward
dealing with homelessness, but advocated a diligent law enforcement
strategy when it came to homeless lawbreakers.

       Recently, Police Chief Fred Lau said, "We don't go out there looking
for homeless people, we go out there looking for people who break the law.
There is a (city) policy - homelessness in itself is not a crime."

       But Sparks and his friend Ray Goff said police have unfairly told
them to leave the cable car turnaround at the foot of Powell.

       "There are lots of people who hang around," said Sparks, 46. "But
how come it's only us - the homeless - who are accused of obstructing the
sidewalk? They want us to leave. They would rather have tourists from
Europe come here than people like me who have spent all their lives in San
Francisco. This city is my home. I've got nowhere else to go. I'm not
leaving."

END FORWARD


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