‘This is not how you treat people': Advocates criticize Stockton homeless encampment sweep

Yahoo

23-07-2025

Several unhoused people who had been living in an encampment near Trinity Parkway were left with nowhere to go after being evicted by Stockton Police Department on Tuesday.
The encampment sweep was touted by District 1 Councilmember Michele Padilla as "a new day in Stockton." Padilla said the encampment had existed for 14 years in her district and when she ran for office in 2022, she promised her constituents it would be addressed.
Homeless advocates said the sweep was conducted without strategic planning by city leaders and that Stockton officials have not presented a long-term plan for addressing the homelessness crisis. They also questioned the show of force by the police department, San Joaquin County Probation and California Highway Patrol, as well as the overall cost of the sweep.
Show of force includes Stockton police, SWAT vehicles
As the sun rose, Stockton police closed the intersection of Trinity Parkway and McAuliffe Road. Police cruisers and motorcycles lined the street. Officers also set up a mobile command unit and stationed a SWAT vehicle near the levee where the encampment was located around 7 a.m.
At its peak, city officials said nearly 100 unhoused people were living in the encampment, but homeless advocates said about 15 people remained there Tuesday.
About 40 officers "had a role in the operation," according to Officer David Scott, a spokesperson for the Stockton Police Department. He said about half of them left the area around 10 a.m. after people were removed from the encampment.
When asked whether the officers who responded were normally assigned to north Stockton, Scott said they came from various assignments, including field operations, strategic operations and the investigations division.
Scott said the land where the encampment was located is controlled by the California State Lands Commission. He said an agreement allowed the police department to remove unhoused residents and clean the area. As part of the process, Scott said cleanup notices were posted and residents were given time to leave voluntarily.
Police cited multiple citizen complaints related to drug use, gunfire, thefts, illegal dumping and trespassing but provided no specifics. They said the area generates numerous calls for service for both the police and fire departments.
Police were seen with batons strapped to their waists, some holding them in their hands, as two homeless advocates led unhoused residents away from the encampment with carts carrying their belongings.
Police Capt. Gary Benevides told a Record reporter covering the sweep that they were not allowed on the levee as police cleared the encampment, saying it was an active crime scene. Reporters were instructed to stand in a designated media area behind yellow tape, away from unhoused residents and police.
More: 'Dozens' at risk as Stockton officials move ahead with Trinity Parkway encampment removal
'This is not how you treat people'
One of the advocates who helped the unhoused residents was Jessica Velez, founder of Red Rabbit Advocacy Programs, a nonprofit organization that supports people affected by homelessness and housing instability in San Joaquin County.
"It's not surprising," Velez said of the sweep. "People don't have solutions. If they don't know what to do, then what do you do? You use force, and that's what's been happening here."
One week before the sweep, Velez attended the July 15 Stockton City Council meeting and told the council she had filed a request for accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act on June 27. People facing encampment removals sometimes file such claims, arguing that removal would cause them harm due to their disabilities.
At the meeting, Velez said the request was confirmed received by Deputy City Manager Will Crew. She also said Mayor Christina Fugazi told her it was "not the city's responsibility to respond to that," and that Velez needed to go through San Joaquin County Probation.
"That was filed with the city clerk, so it very much is the city's responsibility," Velez said at the time.
She also warned the council about the mental toll the sweep would have on those who lived at the encampment, including a man who was contemplating suicide because of the displacement. Velez said he "lost everything" as a result of Tuesday's sweep.
Patricia Barrett, a homeless advocate who spent four years unhoused, assisted Velez in helping residents carry their belongings from the encampment and connect with services. Barrett said she believed city leaders were "destroying people's lives" and that several unhoused people she works with were left traumatized by the situation.
"The bottom line is that this is not how you treat people," Barrett said. "You work with them."
The women have proposed safe camping as a possible solution to Stockton's homelessness crisis during council meetings. Velez said she has traveled across the country to visit safe camping sites, and Barrett said the model has worked in Culver City and San Diego.
"To live under the trees, and then you go into a roof, a floor, walls — man, that's anxiety," Barrett said. "I did that after being unhoused for four years. It took me six months to adjust to a roof. They're not doing it properly. They should have spent the effort from the last four months — the effort they've spent on this — on building a safe camping site."
Shortage of shelter beds
The city of Stockton has received nearly $65 million in federal and state grant funds to address homelessness over the past five years. However, leaders have struggled to develop and implement long-term solutions. Projects aimed at adding shelter beds at St. Mary's Community Services — including the Carol and Henry Zeiter Navigation Center and the Pathways Project — have faced repeated delays.
The Stockton City Council voted at its July 15 meeting against approving and allocating $1.2 million in Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program funds to St. Mary's Community Services for completion of the Pathways Project. Councilmembers said they wanted to see clear reporting on expenditures and outcomes before providing additional funding.
Stockton officials said at the April 3 Ad-Hoc Homelessness Committee meeting that the St. Mary's Community Services projects would expand the city's emergency shelter capacity. They said the navigation center would add 68 beds and the Pathways Project would add 268, bringing the total number of beds in the city's shelter inventory to 627.
Based on the latest 2024 Point-in-Time Count, Stockton has significantly fewer shelter beds than its estimated unhoused population. The count found 545 sheltered and 2,451 unsheltered homeless people in Stockton — a total of 2,996 — the highest among San Joaquin County's seven incorporated cities.
At Tuesday's encampment sweep, San Joaquin County Behavioral Health Services workers handed out flyers with resources for those being displaced. The flyer listed addresses and phone numbers for two men's shelters in Stockton — Gospel Center Rescue Mission and Stockton Men's Shelter — and for three women's shelters in Stockton and French Camp: New Hope Family Shelter, Stockton Women's Shelter and Haven of Peace.
The Record called the five listed shelters Tuesday to check bed availability. One shelter's number was disconnected, another forwarded the call to voicemail, a third said there were no beds that day but advised checking later in the week, a fourth said they didn't know but recommended calling back in a few hours, and a fifth said individuals seeking services must call themselves.
Advocates work to house the unhoused
Since Interim City Manager Steve Colangelo's proposal for a $825,000 homelessness pilot program was rejected by the Stockton City Council in April, Velez said she had been working to find housing for people at the Trinity Parkway encampment.
The proposal sought to relocate people living in the encampment to an 80-by-100-foot tent shelter at 3635 Calaveras Ave., about 11 miles southeast of the site. The council directed city staff to return with a revised version of the proposal and to consider issuing a request for proposals to find community partners to operate the shelter.
The item was never brought back for approval, but city officials moved forward with the sweep.
Velez said she was initially able to get four people placed in housing through Central Valley Low Income Housing. A fifth person received housing through her coordination with behavioral health services, and a sixth was housed through Central Valley Low Income Housing on Monday. Velez said a housing navigator also helped her find housing for a 70-year-old veteran with dementia.
Despite working with people living at the Trinity Parkway encampment for two years, Velez said neither she nor Barrett were asked by city officials to help those being displaced during the sweep. She said she decided to go for "damage control."
After county workers left the area around 11:15 a.m., Velez and Barrett stood with at least seven people from the encampment who sat on the sidewalk near Trinity Parkway and McAuliffe Road. They held on to their belongings and at least six dogs, which ate kibble as the people waited.
"There's no housing options for these guys," Velez said. "They have too many pets."
Cost of homeless encampment sweep unclear
The total cost of Tuesday's encampment sweep remains unclear. While officials have not said how much Stockton paid or provided an exact amount, city spokesperson Tony Mannor said the California State Lands Commission approved $100,000 for the cleanup.
What also remains unclear is when the city will clean up the trash and belongings left behind at the encampment. As of Tuesday, cleanup efforts had not begun. Mannor said officials first needed to assess the area's condition and determine the cost.
Padilla said there will be daily monitoring by code enforcement and support from the Stockton Police Department to ensure the site and surrounding areas are not reoccupied.
Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at [e-mail] or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Stockton encampment sweep leaves some unhoused with nowhere to go
Solve the daily Crossword