The Orange County Board of Supervisors approved a new policy on Tuesday that allows for the immediate arrest and fining of unhoused individuals camping on county-owned land, including flood control channels and parks, according to KFI.
The policy passed with a 4-1 vote, despite concerns about the potential impact on Santa Ana, which may see an increase in unhoused people being booked and released from the county jail.
Guess which Supervisor voted not to arrest and fine the transients? Of course that would be Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento, who represents the Santa Ana area.
Sarmiento said he had concerns about the policy’s departure from previous efforts to get people into shelters and the potential burden on Santa Ana’s resources. Sarmiento alluded to how transients are often released right into Santa Ana when they get out of the Orange County Jail. So his solution is to not arrest them in the first place? Incredible, but not surprising as Sarmiento has consistently ripped the police and defended criminals.
Sarmiento is one of several Democrats on the O.C. Board of Supervisors. One if his blue party colleagues, Supervisor Katrina Foley, was the one who proposed the measure. Foley emphasized that the new ordinance is not intended to “arrest our way out of this” but to ensure public safety by enforcing anti-camping rules.
The new policy aims to create uniform rules across different jurisdictions to prevent encampments from re-emerging in areas like the Santa Ana River and Talbert Regional Park.
The O.C. Supervisors, despite the new policy, will continue to send social workers, along with OC Sheriff’s deputies, to try to offer help to those found camping on county property. However, the majority of the time the transients refuse help. Moreover, the County continues to contend with a 28% increase in homelessness over the past two years. There is also still a shortage of affordable housing.
Cities and Counties in California finally started arresting criminal transients after the Supreme Court’s decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson. That ruling has allowed municipalities to enforce camping bans, as long as the punishments are not deemed “cruel and unusual” under the Eighth Amendment. The State of California also will offer treatment to criminals who can elect to get help to quit drugs or face prison time.
At this point, just let the homeless camp out by the river chanels with 24/7 security & if there’s drug issues on site… then arrest e’m for it. The homeless won’t stop using so might as well keep checking up on them like probation cops do.