Police conduct cleanup of trash from homeless encampments along the river

The Petaluma Police Department led a collaborative effort to clean up trash from six homeless encampments along a section of the river on Tuesday, June 16.

Officer Ryan DeBaeke supervised the cleanup, which was done just south of Hopper Street between Lakeville Street and Highway 101. This section of property is heavily populated by many of Petaluma’s homeless. A large amount of trash has accumulated in the area necessitating a cleanup effort. All camps on the property, which the city owns, were given 72 hours notice prior to the cleanup effort so residents of the camp would have time to take valuable possessions from the camps.

DeBaeke was joined by members of the police department’s volunteer staff along with members from the Mary Isaak Center, Friends of the Petaluma River, The Petaluma Wetlands Alliance and the Petaluma Public Works Department.

The operation began at 8:30 a.m. and was completed by 2 p.m. Six homeless encampments were completely cleaned up and all garbage on the property was disposed of. One location was so deep in garbage that the city’s Public Works Department had to use a backhoe to extract all of the garbage and waste that was in the campsite. In all, more than two full debris boxes were filled with garbage.

During this operation, DeBaeke contacted a severely wounded veteran in his 50s who was having difficulty walking on his own on the property. The veteran has numerous medical conditions, some of which he had suffered from living outdoors for the past several years. DeBaeke had made contact with the man prior to the encampment cleanup day, but the wounded veteran was unwilling to accept services, which are provided at the Mary Isaak Center. Along with assistance from staff at the Mary Isaak Center, the veteran agreed to receive help at the homeless shelter and get medical treatment for some of his injuries.

In July, DeBaeke will be named the Petaluma Police Department’s first Homeless Liaison Officer. This position has been created to work collaboratively with other agencies in the county including the Mary Isaak Center, Drug Abuse Alternative Center, Sonoma County Mental health along with others in an attempt to assist those subjects who for a variety of reasons some of which are beyond their control are forced to live outdoors. This position will also be able to proactively contact the homeless population to attempt to offer services and when appropriate take enforcement action for offenses such as illegal camping, illegal waste dumping in the river, public intoxication, narcotics and other related offenses.

Another cleanup operation is planned for the third week of July in another area of Petaluma. At this time the exact date and location have not been identified. The Petaluma Police Department along with the other groups named in this release are committed to cleaning areas which are inhabited by homeless camps. These camps are often areas of high narcotic use, criminal activity and due to the nature of the camps can be infected with various diseases due to the lack of bathroom facilities.