Police disrupt sleeping-ban protest, issue citations and make 1 arrest

This story is collated from details of interviews with three individuals present at the protest on 11 August 2015.

A group protesting the Santa Cruz city law which bans sleeping in public places received a visit from the SCPD this Tuesday night as they slept out in front of city hall in an act of civil disobedience. The camping ban, which criminalizes people who use camping equipment to sleep in public places, is described as unfairly targeting the homeless community in Santa Cruz county, members of which often have no option.

A group of 10 police officers arrived at city hall just before midnight on August 11, approaching from the rear courtyard area off Church Street and from Cooper Street between the city hall complex and the downtown library. They immediately began asking people if they'd leave the sidewalk or the park area of city hall. Santa Cruz city hall is designated as a public park and therefore exists under a law that prohibits people from being in parks after 10pm. Police warned people inside the city hall complex that the park was closed and that those who refused to leave the area would receive tickets. They then moved through the complex, clearing people off of the lawn and the interior walkways under the mission-style arcade. One protestor stood in front of officers displaying a sign that stated “Sleep Deprivation is a Form of Torture,” while calling for someone with a camera to document individual instances of ticketing and shouting the slogan “Santa Cruz police are criminalizing the innocent!”

Another protestor, Abbi Samuels, reportedly confronted police with an excerpt from the law governing park access which states that individuals have a right to use public thoroughfares that pass through parks, even after closing hours. The officers she addressed are reported to have told her they were “uninterested” in the law and would write tickets anyway.

Israel Dawson, a documentary filmmaker who has been involved with the anti-sleeping ban protests since they began earlier this summer, was present and filming while the police woke and ticketed sleepers within the complex. The bright light atop his video camera apparently bothered the officers he was filming, as one told him that the light on the police constituted obstruction, and then threatened him with arrest if he didn't point it elsewhere. One officer tried to grab the camera light, then as Israel backed away from him, requested an ID. Israel told him that his ID was in his car and was walking toward the car to retrieve the card when he arrested for failing to produce identification. As Israel was hustled towards a police car on the side of the street opposite city hall, a small group of protesters reportedly followed, chanting at the police “Shame! Shame! Shame!” Lauren Benson, who has partnered with Dawson to document the sleeping protests, received a ticket for being in a park after its closure as well as a 24 hour stay-away order for the same park.

The police stayed a short time after the arrest to make a statement to the assembled sleepers that the protest would have to leave the premises of city hall and that the police would return later. Four Santa Cruz sheriff's deputies arrived and spoke briefly with the police, after which the entire group of law enforcement officers left. The police issued a reported 7 citations for offenses including being in a park after housrs and lying on the sidewalk. They also issued several stay-away orders that prevent recipients from being in the city hall park area for the next 24 hours. The police were present for about one hour and did not return the rest of the night.

Israel was released from the jail on River Street and arrived on foot back at city hall around 2:30 am. He reported that he was charged with resisting arrest and would have a court date in September. According to his account, one officer at the jail asked him “Would you care to explain yourself?” to which Israel replied that he wanted to see a judge and a lawyer. In his words, Israel thought that the police “wanted to target the video people, I think.”

Organizers have called for a recurring protest at city hall every Tuesday night for the forseeable future. According to recent data from a point-in-time survey of the homeless population - conducted over a four hour period - there are just under 2,000 unhoused people in the county. There are only 700 emergency shelter beds available for the unhoused, which makes sleeping outdoors a necessity for those who cannot secure shelter space.