Without expressly blaming homeless residents – but identifying a number of crimes that often involve the unhoused – a Durango Police Department commander told City Council that crime is up in certain Durango neighborhoods.
In the last six weeks or so, the police department has experienced an increase in calls for service about nuisance crimes such as public urination, drinking alcoholic beverages in public spaces and trespassing (including illegal camping), as well as a rise in theft, said Deck Shaline, commander at DPD.
Police identified four hot spots around town where service calls are stemming from, including the Central Business District; Durango Transit Center; south City Market and Albertsons; and Walmart; as well as a “rolling” hot spot spanning from Schneider Park past Manna soup kitchen to Iris Park and Ella Vita Court, he said.
Officers are taking 10- to 15-minute patrols of the hot spots on bicycle and on foot with more frequency in hopes to deter crime, he said. Officers are also carrying brochures with information about detox resources, the location of Manna and descriptions of common law violations such as trespassing, illegal camping and Durango’s open container laws.
Designating hot spots is practiced by law enforcement across the country. Shaline cited an FBI study that says patrolling hot spots discourage crime and improve residents’ perception of police and neighborhood safety.
DPD also installed rocks beneath the Ninth Street Bridge – an area where homeless camping has become more frequent as of late – to make the area less hospitable to someone looking to lay down their sleeping bag, he said.
The city used a similar strategy on Roosa Avenue in December, when boulders were placed to stop people from parking by the river overnight and for extended periods, much to the chagrin of one homeless resident, Matt Longwell, who had repeatedly refused to stop parking his RV there.
Longwell said in an interview at the time that the city should drop its overnight camping ban. Despite his suggestion, the city’s enforcement of the ban remains in effect.
Shaline said officers have frequently responded to complaints about illegal camping at X-rock, a popular rock climbing area near Durango’s northern city limits.
“As of two weeks ago, X-rock was more of an issue than it is currently,” Shaline said. “We had gone up there and made some definitive actions; towing vehicles, giving warnings to folks and educating them on the laws, et cetera. We’ve gotten them to move out for now.”
On June 1, a 52-year-old homeless man was found dead and beyond saving in a campsite in the X-rock areag. Law enforcement said no foul play is suspected. A toxicology report is expected from the county coroner in several weeks.
The city has faced scrutiny and attracted the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union in the recent past for its unwelcoming position on Durango’s homeless population.
In April, Annie Kurtz, an ACLU attorney who visited the city to survey the state of homelessness, said the city is vulnerable to a lawsuit because it is enforcing camping bans without providing alternate shelter or places to go.
“It’s essentially a directive to leave town,” she said. “That’s not legal.”
She said the boulders placed on Roosa Avenue (that are now also underneath the Ninth Street Bridge) are a form of hostile infrastructure – a feature designed to limit how homeless people can use the city’s public spaces.
Other crime deterrence and enforcement activities the police department is ramping up as summer approaches include undercover surveillance in “problem areas” for drug use and sales, Shaline said.
The police department has also planted a honeypot – or “bait bike” – somewhere in town to catch would-be thieves looking to wheel away a bicycle that doesn’t belong to them, he said. The bait bike is fixed with a GPS locator and any officer on patrol can access its location from their smartphones.
“We lean the bicycle up against a tree. And if the bike rides away, we contact that person and write them a ticket or make an arrest if that’s appropriate,” he said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
