A multi-agency crackdown to remove illegal encampments from Fairmount Park near downtown Riverside netted more than a dozen arrests and the removal of unauthorized facilities, authorities said Thursday.
Riverside police officers, city Department of Code Enforcement officers, Parks & Neighborhood specialists and Riverside County Department of Animal Services personnel joined in the “special enforcement operation,” which was conducted over an hourslong period Wednesday.
Detective Steve Espinosa said 17 people were taken into custody on a mix felony and misdemeanor allegations, “including illegal camping, outstanding warrants, probation violations and trespassing.”
Three people were cited and released, while 14 were booked into the Robert Presley Jail. Their identities were not disclosed.
“Code Enforcement personnel canvassed the (park) and conducted a comprehensive cleanup of the affected areas,” Espinosa said. “Encampment-related materials, abandoned property, trash, rubbish, debris, drug paraphernalia and other miscellaneous items were removed, restoring the area to a cleaner and safer condition.”
According to the police spokesman, the multi-agency operations will continue in the interest abating blight and ensuing public safety in the park, which is adjacent to the Santa Ana River bottom, where homeless encampments are an ongoing concern.
“These (agency) partnerships are essential to preserving Fairmount Park and other public spaces as safe, clean and accessible areas for residents and visitors to enjoy,” Espinosa said.
Where do they send these people after they are arrested? We only have so many open spaces left for the homeless people to destroy. Maybe we shoild take them to BLM land where they can fend for themselves and might build a community in the desert.
I don’t believe that most of these people are in their situation due to the act of others. At some point, we have to say, grow up and be an adult. If you have an addiction or a problem with society, ask for help and then use it. Businesses and parks should not have to suffer because someone was let down. We all have struggled at one time or another, but we stuck to it and became responsible for our own actions! Its alway going to be a ladder to climb, dont give up and take the easy way out.