Alex Darocy Photography

On February 23, the Freedom Sleepers held their 33rd community sleepout at Santa Cruz City Hall. Attendance at the sleepout increased shortly after 3:30 am, following the police sweeps and move-alongs of homeless individuals sleeping at the Main Branch of the Santa Cruz Library and at the Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church, which are located across the street from city hall. At least one individual sleeping outside of the library was issued a citation by police. Those joining the Freedom Sleepers who were displaced by the sweeps were able to sleep until the morning without further intervention from the authorities. Santa Cruz police move-along sleepers at the Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church The front steps of the Prophet Elias Church remained clear of sleepers for the rest of the evening, but the number of sleepers surrounding the library increased following the police sweeps. As soon as the police concluded the sweeps, one person who officers had moved along from the c...

This month the downtown post office in Santa Cruz was cleared by police of what had been a large and regular presence of sleepers at night. The post office had been used as shelter for 6-12 people a night for some time. A homeless man who was sleeping outside of Bookshop Santa Cruz and cited with two other sleepers for trespassing this month said he thought the police were ticketing at increased rate recently to get homeless people to move along before the next rains arrived. SCPD officer Dominique Hohmann places her hand on her gun as she issues a man sleeping outside of Bookshop Santa Cruz a citation. The current enforcement patterns in the City of Santa Cruz are an extension of the homeless sweeps that began in 2012. According to Santa Cruz Police Department statistics, the number of camping ban citations issued by police officers is presently at the same level as when the department dramatically increased enforcement of the ordinance during their widely publicized series of...

Community members in Monterey returned to Alvarado Street on February 5 for their first sit-lie protest of 2016. The activists have been organizing protests once a month since February of last year to oppose the city's sit-lie law, which first went into effect in October of 2014. Future sit-ins will continue to be held on the first of the month, with the next protests planned for March 4 and April 1. The sit-lie protests are organized by Direct Action Monterey Network (DAMN). Sec. 32-6.2 of the Monterey municipal code bans sitting or lying on most commercial sidewalks in Monterey between the hours of 7am and 9pm. Based on their outreach with Monterey's homeless community, DAMN believes the sit-lie ordinance is discriminatory and has been selectively enforced by police. DAMN posted the following event announcement on Facebook in advance of the February 5 sit-in: "On Friday, February 5th from 4pm-6pm we will once again sit down on the sidewalk on Alvarado Street in vio...

On December 4, Direct Action Monterey Network (DAMN) organized its eleventh sit-in protest in downtown Monterey. Since February, community members have been gathering monthly on the sidewalk of Alvarado Street to defy the city's sit-lie ordinance, which has been in effect for just over a year now. Sec. 32-6.2 of the Monterey municipal code bans sitting or lying on most commercial sidewalks in Monterey between the hours of 7am and 9pm. Based on their outreach with Monterey's homeless community, DAMN believes the sit-lie ordinance is discriminatory and has been selectively enforced by police. There was quite a bit of support for the sitters at the December 4 protest. Several unsolicited donations were made by individuals passing by. After speaking with members of the group, one individual opened their wallet and gave the demonstrators a generous cash donation. Another person brought them packages of cookies. The protests bring together a wide variety of community members...

On August 11, community members in Santa Cruz held their fifth in a series of sleepouts organized at City Hall to protest local laws that make it illegal for homeless people to sleep in public. Police arrived at midnight and citations were issued to many in the group of demonstrators who were attempting to sleep in the courtyard as an act of civil disobedience. 24-hour stay away orders were issued to at least two of those present, and a journalist who has been documenting the whole series of protests was arrested and taken to jail. After police left, most of the protesters remained and slept on the sidewalk until the next morning. The courtyard area of Santa Cruz City Hall is closed to the public at night, which is one of the issues homeless rights demonstrators have been targeting. Their desire is to see city parks opened at night so that people without homes will have a place to go where they are not targeted by law enforcement. Another focus of the protests has been the loc...