By Sara Beth Williams–
A small assembly of homeless individuals and advocates gathered in front of Citrus Heights City Hall last week to support the Fourth Amendment rights of unhoused individuals in Citrus Heights. The event was organized by local homeless advocate Alfred Sanchez.
Sanchez, who is known as “Snack Man” by most unhoused individuals and city officials, told The Sentinel that at least seven homeless and another outreach worker gathered Tuesday afternoon despite the wind and heat. Sanchez attended a one-on-one meeting with Citrus Heights City Manager Ash Feeney, where he expressed his concern with the city’s Beautification Crew’s clean up practices, which he called “unlawful.”
Sanchez said he is concerned about “improper seizure” of property belonging to unhoused individuals such as bikes, trailers, sleeping bags, and other items not typically classified as garbage. He alleges that when he and others visit the Police Department’s impound center to request the return of important items of value, such items cannot be located by the police.
“If I turn something into the Police Department, they have to log it, get information, they wait for John Doe to come get it,” Sanchez said, additionally questioning why police officers do not adequately catalog items so that they can be returned to owners.
Sanchez wants a more solidified set of rules for when, where, and how the city’s Beautification Crew and the Police Department can seize unhoused individuals’ items. He called the current regulations “ambiguous” and “confusing” and alleged that not all officers follow the same rules.
The city and Citrus Heights Police Department released a joint statement to The Sentinel in response, stating in part: “Belongings are never seized by the Beautification Crew. In abandoned illegal encampments, crews remove illegally dumped debris. They do not remove anything easily identifiable as belonging to a specific individual, and officers will make extra efforts to try to identify the abandoned property’s owner when others are nearby.”
The city also said that in the case of illegal homeless camps, staff work with individuals to contain their personal property and, as well, provide services for individuals to help properly dispose of unwanted materials.
According to the city’s website, the Beautification Crew was established in October 2022 and consists of a two-person full time crew who patrol and maintain the public right-of-way by removing illegally dumped trash, conducting weed and litter abatement, removing abandoned carts and debris and removing unlawful homeless camps, in partnership with the Citrus Heights Police Department.
According to an annual Police Department report, 76 tons of trash and 1,500 abandoned carts were collected by the Beautification Crew in 2023. Over 400 shopping cart service requests have been completed as of April 25, 2024, according to the city. Some service requests included multiple carts.
Citrus Heights General Services Regina Cave previously reported to the City Council that debris and abandoned shopping carts are only removed from the public right-of-way such as sidewalks.
