Denver homeless group decries rise in interactions between unhoused people and authorities
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Signs displayed outside the City and County Building by a homeless advocacy group yesterday. Photo: Esteban L. Hernandez/Axios
A homeless advocacy group is calling attention to a rise in interactions between city agencies and unhoused people during Mayor Mike Johnston's first year in office.
The big picture: Members of Housekeys Action Network Denver on Monday released data showing interactions between the unhoused, police and other city agencies spiked during the first three months of 2024.
- Other city agencies include the Street Enforcement Team, a civilian agency overseeing low-level offenses like trespassing, and the yellow vest ambassadors program.
Why it matters: Advocates say the figures contradict Johnston's claim of providing a more compassionate approach to treating unhoused people, a top priority for him.
By the numbers: Between January and March this year, 1,017 enforcement actions were recorded by city agencies, up from 694 during the same span in 2023, per data provided to Housekeys by the city.
Context: These "actions" included instances where police or a city agency made contact with someone or issued a ticket for quality of life crimes like trespassing and the camping ban.
- However, activists say some of these interactions led to people experiencing homelessness facing harassment.
Caveat: Terese Howard of Housekeys said the data is incomplete.
- The city attorney's office told the group that Denver police had not consistently tracked camping ban enforcement until recently.
Zoom in: Under Johnston's strategy, which focuses on clearing encampments only when sheltering is available, the city has sheltered 1,564 people starting last year.
- At least 1,310 of those people remain in shelters or permanent housing, according to the city's dashboard.
What they're saying: "That strategy has worked over and over to get people connected to housing," the mayor, who had not yet seen the data from Housekeys, said during a separate press conference on Monday.
Yes, but: The city has cleared at least two encampments without shelter space available to people it's moving, something the mayor says his staff tries to avoid.
Zoom out: Johnston announced a new initiative on Monday to make Denver the largest American city to reach "functional zero" for unsheltered veterans, meaning more people receiving permanent housing or sheltering than those currently or entering homelessness.
- Denver will partner with the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs, the city's housing authority and other agencies to provide housing vouchers and meet its goal by December.