Sacramento, Calif. -- Robert J Hansen
Medical professionals and activists called on city and county officials to stop using police sweeps to displace unhoused residents in Sacramento on Tuesday.
The event was organized by Sacramento Street Medicine (SSM), a nonprofit group working to provide health services to unhoused residents since 2019.
The group marched from Sacramento City Hall to the Sacramento County Administration building where they urged all elected leaders to stop sheriff's deputies, county park rangers or police officers from displacing unhoused residents.
Last week, Sacramento County park rangers attempted to dispalce a coummunity of unhoused residents living along the Sacrmento River.
Tony Menaco, executive director of SSM, said he is concerned for June 15, when the health order that has protected unhoused residents ends.
"They are trying to displace residents before the health order is lifted," Menacho said. "The supervisors are planning to just keep displacing these people as soon as the order is lifted."
Medical professionals want leaders provide health and housing services for the unhoused residents, not sweeps.
"Being able to provide continuum of care services is really hard when you go there one week and they’re not there the next week," Menacho said.
According to Menacho, The life expectancy of a new house man is 52 and for women it is 47.
"What if that was a loved one of yours," Menacho said. "The people living outside are our loved ones."
Twana James, an unhoused resident said the sweeps are not helping and are harmful to the elderly resident.
“I'm the one that sees them [elderly unhoused] every day. They lose their pills, they lose everything because of the sweeps,” James said. "The sweeps aren't helping anything."
According to Joe Smith, advocacy director of loaves and fishes, the health order because of Covid has kept the unhoused residence safe from displacement. The health order ends on June 15.
"This order has protected the unhoused by allowing residents to remain sheltered in place Encampments and then vehicles to protect their health," Smith said.
Neither the county nor the city of Sacramento have made any announcement of protections after the health order is lifted Smith said.
"A person experiencing homelessness will be subject to sweeps by law-enforcement, Smith said. "By sweeping or displacing unhoused community members, they'll be subject to number health care risks."
"We want health services not sweeps," Menacho said.
Disrtict 3 Supervisor Rich Desmond said at a June 9 meeting asured that there will not be sweeps of homeless encampments and that unhoused residents get connected with county health and rehab services.
"Everyone on this dias insists on an approach where law enforcement is the last step and hopefully never even used," Desmond said.
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