Surprise reinstates ordinance banning homeless camping

Surprise leaders have reinstated a city camping ban that prohibits people from sleeping in public places even if there is no access to homeless shelters.

With unanimous approval of the City Council on November 4, 2024, local police may cite suspected violators for causing public nuisance or may transport a consenting person to a social services agency.

The ordinance, which goes into effect Dec. 4, gives officers another tool in the Surprise Police Department’s strategy to heal, Chief Benny Piña said. This approach aims to get homeless people off the streets of Surprise and give them access to housing, mental health and substance abuse treatment resources.

The vote comes as cities grapple with the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis. It also follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn lower court rulings that found enforcing the homeless camping ban to be “cruel and unusual punishment” when there is not enough shelter space.

Additionally, the approved ordinance preceded Election Day, when voters largely supported Proposition 312a ballot measure that would soon allow residents to apply for property tax refunds when cities fail to enforce laws prohibiting camping, loitering, panhandling and other activities involving transient residents.

The estimated homeless population in Surprise has fluctuated dramatically in recent years.

According to Maricopa Government Association’s annual point-in-time counta one-day snapshot to quantify homelessness in the Valley, counting about 50 people experiencing homelessness this winter.

What does the Surprise urban camping ban do?

Under the reinstated ordinance, people are prohibited from camping on public and private property. This specifically means setting up, stowing and maintaining camping equipment such as tents, tarps, cartons and vehicles.

This does not include camping on private residential properties.

Violating the ordinance is considered a public nuisance and is a Class 1 misdemeanor, the most serious non-felony offense. Such offenses are punishable by a fine of up to $2,500 and up to six months in prison.

People caught sleeping in public can either be cited or have an officer take them to a social service organization that provides mental health and housing resources and drug treatment.

“We’re trying to get into service delivery and offer services right away,” Piña told The Arizona Republic, emphasizing a treatment-first approach. He added that “the officer has the right to issue an immediate citation, but that is not the intent of what we are trying to do.”

Surprise police officers are trained in crisis intervention and communicating with homeless people, Piña said. This helps them determine what services to provide to the person they have stopped.

For homeless services, the Surprise Police Department contracts with the nonprofit Phoenix Rescue Mission.

Every time officers approach a person suspected of committing a crime and believed to be homeless, they contact the rescue mission, Pigna said. The nonprofit’s navigators will engage the homeless by offering services in hopes that they will accept help rather than a quote.

If they agree, the officer will arrange transportation but will file a criminal report for the interaction, Pigna said. The charge, he added, would be dropped but would later be dropped if they completed the homeless release program.

Why is this camping ban coming back now?

The reinstated ordinance is an updated version of an ordinance passed by council members in 2018.

This original version was updated in 2019 to reflect the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Martin v. City of Boise. The court found that it was unconstitutional to prosecute someone for sleeping in public when shelters were not available.

Homeless advocates, including groups like the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, have criticized the camping bans. They argue that enforcement criminalizes and persecutes homeless people, preventing them from ending the cycle of poverty.

In response to the court’s decision, the council added language to the original ordinance prohibiting officers from enforcing a camping ban if there is no available shelter site with homeless services within 50 miles of city limits.

There are no homeless shelters in the city, Pigna noted. The city eliminated that need because of its contract with the Phoenix Rescue Mission, he said.

But because of a Ninth Circuit ruling, city officials could not approach people camping in certain public areas. According to the chief, this would essentially violate the court’s decision.

This continued until June, when the US Supreme Court ruled on the relevant case. Johnson v. City of Grants Pass.

In a 6-3 decision, the justices said cities can arrest and fine people for sleeping in public places even if shelters have no space. Reversing the lower court’s decisions, the high court found that enforcing the bans was not considered “cruel and unusual punishment” and therefore did not violate the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution.

The ruling cleared the way for cities like Surprise to reintroduce camping bans.

“This gives us a tool to be able to educate people and also be available in the event of a possible violation, so we can again offer accessible social services,” Piña said.

An ACLU spokesperson was unable to comment on the renewed ban on Surprise camping.

How bad is the homelessness problem in Surprise?

In January, Surprise was among the West Valley cities with the highest number of homeless people.

Volunteers conducting the point-in-time count reported 49 homeless people in Surprise. Only neighboring Glendale and Peoria had more. Glendale had 211 and Peoria had 82.

The latest count of the number of homeless people in Surprise showed a decrease from the 67 reported a year earlier, but higher than the 46 reported in 2022. In 2020, “Surprise” and 29 people without shelter.

Surprise’s homeless population is largely scattered throughout the city because there are no encampments in one area, Piña said.

“The point-in-time count has its purpose, but we see a lot of temporary movement,” he said, noting that it is difficult to determine the number of homeless people in the city “because there are a lot of people moving through it.”

Piña added that the department does not maintain tables or databases on homelessness.

“We’re just making sure people get the right treatment,” he said.

Sean Raymundo covers the West Valley cities of Glendale, Peoria and Surprise. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him at X @ShawnzyTsunami.