Another Homeless Sweep Underway
DENVER (CBS4) - About 150 homeless living on the streets of the Ballpark Neighborhood in downtown Denver were asked to leave for the second time this year.
Police arrived on Tuesday morning after giving those camped out notice to move their belongings.
Officers gave people time to clear out their belongings before starting to enforce the cleanup and removing items.
Some of those living on the streets resisted. Officers said that the people could stay but their belongings cannot be stored on the sidewalk.
The City of Denver would like the homeless to move into shelters.
Those who cannot carry their belongings can let crews with Public Works collected it and place it into storage for 60 days where it can be claimed later.
The sweep is focused on the same area where the initial sweep happened in March. This comes as homeless people are suing the city to stop its crackdown on public camping.
The attorney behind that lawsuit is upset the city continued with another sweep.
"Instead of letting the judge and U.S. Federal Court adjudicate and decide about the constitutionality of these actions, the city has just gone ahead and continued these actions with complete disrespect and utter disregard for federal judicial processes and the United State Constitution," said attorney Jason Flores-William.
Many claim pushing out the homeless from the neighborhood will only move the issue elsewhere.
"We are operating well within our legal bounds. We truly feel that we want our residents to have safe, clean places to sleep," said Denver Human Services spokeswoman Julie Smith.
The Department of Human Services told CBS4 the City of Denver is in the process of purchasing land for its first city-owned shelter. All the shelters that currently offer services to the homeless are non-profit.
