Quarterly homeless camp cleanup continues Thursday in key areas of Colorado Springs amid pushback
Christian Murdock, The Gazette
Flattened plastic bottles teetering on tree branches, mangled shopping carts, deflated makeshift tents and every kind of trash imaginable are found in secluded spots along Monument Creek.
Some, but not all the debris — which is part refuse, part personal belongings of those who live on the streets — is hidden from Monument Valley Park users.
“Hey, there’s a whole pile of needles,” a city of Colorado Springs cleanup crew worker calls out on Wednesday, during the third quarterly “coordinated cleanup.”
Another employee brings over a sharps container, and the pair carefully grab the dirty objects with long-armed pickers and place them in the disposal box.
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Nine times out of 10, the spent hypodermic needles found in homeless encampments were used to shoot up methamphetamine or fentanyl, said Sgt. Olav Chaney, who supervises the Colorado Springs Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team.
The two-day blitz — a project under Mayor Yemi Mobolade’s goal to beautify the city — covered key areas known for illegal urban camping and involved multiple municipal departments, from police and fire to public works and parks, to the Colorado Department of Transportation and Union Pacific and BNSF railroads. Earthwise Waste Solutions provided Dumpsters.
A pile of trash from a camp liters the ground along Monument Creek in Monument Valley Park on Wednesday in Colorado Springs.
A similar en masse cleanup in April netted 300 tons of trash and provided outreach and support to nearly 180 homeless individuals, according to city officials. Police also arrest people they come across who have outstanding warrants and ticket those who are breaking laws.
The coordinated events are different from the daily cleanups the city does because they reach a large scope in a short amount of time, said Corey Farkas, Colorado Springs’ public works operations and maintenance division manager. His division provided 35 employees to assist and heavy equipment such as skid loaders.
The same area in Monument Valley Park was cleaned in the spring. “It didn’t take long for it to fill up again,” one worker noted.
Neighbor Susan Padlog, who has filed several complaints with city officials about illegal activity in the park, including drug transactions and usage, public defecation, illegal parking in the neighborhood, garbage strewn around and crimes, said it never fails that when a cleanup occurs, the issues return shortly thereafter.
And illicit activity around the southwestern park entrance has increased lately, she said.
Homeless people broke into a nearby Airbnb in recent weeks, and it took four police cars and police dogs to get them out, Padlog said.
“It’s just getting bad,” she said. “The people who say they have rights too, I agree, they have rights — the same rights we do to not break laws. And that’s the problem. They’re allowed to do these things.”
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Last Thursday, a transient man was stabbed to death in Monument Valley Park, Chaney said, the first murder of the year in the park.
Police have increased the frequency of making rounds at camps this year, which some residents have told him they’ve noticed and have given a “thumbs up” for the effort.
While the camps that emit a foul stench and require precise foot maneuvering can seem like a place of hopelessness, those who are in the trenches regularly see success stories as well.
“Two days ago, I wrote a second ticket to a guy who said, ‘I’m ready to go,’ and we took him to Serenity Recovery Connection for substance abuse,” Chaney said. “We don’t give up on them. We continually give them resources to help them get off the streets.”
But not everyone likes how the situation is being handled. Jesse Ballard, who’s been homeless off and on since 2013, said there seems to be a blatant disregard for possessions.
The place where he sleeps was swept twice in a short period.
“I lost everything except my dog and a few things I salvaged, but it’s mostly all gone,” he said a few weeks ago, after the second cleanup.
Notices about cleanups are posted in advance of the activity at a given site, Chaney said.
Some people don’t see the signs, said Codi Natelli, an emergency medical technician and clinical lead at Ascending to Health Respite and Primary Care. The nonprofit runs a primary care clinic and provides medical outreach in homeless camps and care for homeless people recovering from hospital stays.
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“Many of the people we work with are not in a position to receive or process that notice due to medical conditions, mental health issues or simply being away from camp at the time,” she said. “As a result, they often return to find their belongings gone. These losses are not just inconvenient; they can mean the difference between stability and crisis for our patients.”
Sometimes the postings are torn down, Chaney said, often admittedly by people who are homeless.
Also, “A lot of times people leave (their possessions) in the camp and someone else steals it,” he said.
Cleanup crews set aside valuables, such as identifications, important paperwork and other items they notice, Chaney said. The materials are taken to a personal property holding area at the main police station for owners to retrieve. But not many homeless people do that, he said.
Many clients need crucial medications refilled weekly because their prescriptions were taken during a cleanup, said Gregory Morris, a physician assistant and founder of Ascending to Health Respite and Primary Care.
“They lose their belongings, medications and dignity with each sweep,” he said. “Life literally has to reset with each subsequent sweep. They lose shelter in the form of tents. They lose clothing and other bare essentials. They lose paperwork that is vital to obtaining housing and disability applications — a pathway out of homelessness.”
The city’s laws that prohibit camping and other illegal actions must be enforced, police say, and the city needs to maintain a clean environment for public health and safety.
The Colorado Springs Homeless Union, a grassroots group of active and formerly homeless people, says the large-scale cleanups are conducted for the sake of an image of the community that can disenfranchise and stigmatize street people.
The group conducts its own monthly camp cleanups and participates in quarterly creek clean-ups.
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“These ongoing events are an alternative to aggressive sweeps by the city, which displace people and deprive them of the belongings they need to survive,” said Colorado Springs Homeless Union leader Kandy Lewis.
“The criminalization of being homeless is not only inhumane but also ineffective. Instead of providing support and resources to help individuals get back on their feet, laws that punish being unhoused only perpetuate the cycle of poverty and despair,” she said.
Chaney said assistance with housing, employment, medical care, substance use treatment and other basics are always offered and available.
Natelli said she’d like to see police and other community leaders work with medical teams to help salvage prescription medications and equipment such as antibiotics, psychiatric drugs, inhalers and heart medications, that are taken or left behind during sweeps. “Even a single missed dose can trigger a medical crisis, sometimes leading to hospitalization,” she said.
The quarterly cleanup will continue on Thursday.
Contact the writer: 719-476-1656.
