Santa Cruz is blaming Hanford for relocating a homeless woman to the coastal city without any notice.
Hanford, on the other hand, says the woman was referred to a homeless shelter in Santa Cruz.
The big picture: Last week Santa Cruz officials held a press conference publicly criticizing Hanford for dropping off the homeless woman.
- Two Hanford police officers dropped the homeless woman off at a city-funded shelter on June 27.
- Santa Cruz is now considering a new ordinance to penalize any government agency for transporting a homeless person to the city without authorization. Violators would face a fine of up to $1,000 or a year in jail. The ordinance would also penalize Santa Cruz police officers from doing the same in other communities.
Go deeper: Santa Cruz officials said last week that the Hanford police officers had initially attempted to drop the homeless woman off in a shopping center in Santa Cruz off of Highway 17.
- They were allegedly deterred by a Santa Cruz police officer who was driving in the area.
- Santa Cruz claims that the woman used an officer’s phone to contact two shelters and was referred to another: Overlook, located on the National Guard Armory property and operated by the Salvation Army.
What they’re saying: “When we look inside those numbers, it says the majority of folks experiencing homelessness were housed in Santa Cruz before they became homeless and they became homeless because they lost their job,” Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley said at a press conference last week.
- Keeley continued, “We feel an obligation to those folks, first and foremost. The others who come into our community [who] weren’t sent here by some other government, we receive folks the way they arrive, like all communities do. What we’re trying to nip in the bud is this shirking of responsibility by one jurisdiction, by shifting the obligation to care for that person to us.”
Hanford’s response: Hanford issued a statement following the press conference detailing its experience with the homeless woman, confirming that the police department transported her to Santa Cruz.
- “At no point in time did Hanford Police Department officers suggest, encourage or coerce the individual to go to the City of Santa Cruz,” the city said. “Any claims of this nature are flat-out false.”
- According to the city, the homeless woman had repeatedly refused local homeless resources and outreach services while she was in Hanford.
- On June 25, she told police officers that she wanted to leave the city, asking to go to several locations that were not feasible, including Hawaii.
- The woman returned to the police department on June 27, telling officers that she did research at a local library and found a shelter in Santa Cruz. She asked for assistance to relocate to the facility.
- “During the drive, the individual made contact with two Santa Cruz homeless organizations, one of which referred her to the Armory, where officers ultimately dropped her off,” the city said.
- Hanford said Police Chief Stephanie Huddleston had previously explained the series of events to the Santa Cruz police chief.
- “We strongly disagree with the City of Santa Cruz’s assessment that the City of Hanford is moving its homeless problem ‘elsewhere,’” the city said. “The Hanford Police Department is committed to providing assistance and coordinating resources for members of the unhoused community with dignity and respect, and in this instance, officers provided a service at the request of the individual.”
