Santa Cruz police shut down Ross Camp
The City of Santa Cruz officially shut down the homeless camp behind the Ross department store off River Street on Friday.
City officials say the Ross Camp is permanently closed. The site has been fenced off to anyone. Over the weekend, private security will guard the site all day and all night using night lighting.
Hundreds of people at Ross Camp gathered whatever belongings they could before police moved in to shut everything down.
“I’ve been doing this for so long, it’s like another moving day for me,” said Shannan, a homeless woman who lived at Ross Camp.
Police, city staff and fire officials all came out to observe the closure of the site. They gave out a notice on Tuesday at 10 a.m. that things were closing down.
“I don’t think they’ve given us enough time, I don’t think they’ve given us enough chance,” said Shannan.
“We’ve posted signs 72 hours ago, we’ve communicated with everybody, we’ve handing flyers to everybody saying you have to be out,” said Andy Mills, the Santa Cruz police chief. “We’ve been through this camp dozens of times.”
Among the items left behind: bicycles, shoes, barbecue grills, mattresses, hypodermic needles, you name it. But it is the numerous propane tanks that caught the eye of Santa Cruz Fire Chief Jason Hajduk.
“So besides being an explosive hazard, it’s also an asphyxiant, it displaces oxygen, especially if you have a leaky valve right next to the opening of where you’re sleeping, that’s the other danger with propane tanks,” said Hajduk.
Police tried to give residents here ample time to gather their belongings on Friday, but around 7:30 p.m., they laid down the hammer.
A team of four to six officers equipped with gloves and face masks began searching through tents one by one, working their way up the camp.
No one was arrested during the process.
The city says the homeless have the option of going to three shelters within Santa Cruz run by the Salvation Army, or they can get motel vouchers.
For Shannan, it is a matter of what she has left.
“I’m taking the things that are sentimental to me. Anything that can be replaced, I’ll replace,” she said.
Police say homeless have a chance to return to the Ross Camp site on Monday between 9 a.m. and noon to pick up stuff they left behind.
