Petaluma police clean up homeless camps

Petaluma police Thursday hauled about 20 yards of garbage and waste from a series of homeless encampments.|

Petaluma police Thursday cleaned up a series of illegal homeless encampments and dumping sites, hauling away about ?20 cubic yards of garbage, wood debris and waste, officials said.

Officers visited the camp sites several days earlier to warn people living there about the plan to remove debris and trash, said Officer Zilverio Rivera, the department’s homeless outreach services team officer.

From about 8 a.m. to noon Thursday, officers visited five large camps on a vacant property on Cedar Grove Parkway as well as another group of camps near the banks of the Petaluma River. Outreach workers from the Mary Isaak Center Shelter offered to assist anyone interested in seeking services.

Four homeless people were still in the camps when police arrived, despite the warnings, Zilverio said. They helped officers collect trash and clean up the camps.

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