SIOUX CITY -- Sioux City police officers make every effort to connect individuals experiencing homelessness with resources to help them get off of the streets, said Community Policing Sgt. Jeremy McClure.
Still, McClure said officers deal with "situations" involving the same people frequently in the city's skywalks, parking ramps and some downtown apartment buildings. He said these individuals are often dealing with mental health or substance abuse issues.
"A lot of the complaints that we get are for a handful of aggressive panhandlers," he said. "When people give money to the panhandlers it creates a lot more of these situations."
Charles Johns, who has lived downtown for five years, said the homeless are constantly asking him for money and cigarettes. He said of the situation, "It's bad."
David Saltzgiver, another downtown resident, said he has witnessed homeless individuals screaming at things that aren't there.
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"I just think they need some place better to go than roaming around causing trouble," he said. "Some of them have been homeless for years."
During the May 9 City Council meeting, Councilman Alex Watters said employees of downtown businesses have told him that some of the homeless are making them feel "threatened or unsafe." He said he received a text from a resident who works downtown expressing concerns about homeless individuals occupying elevators. He said he has heard similar complaints from "a number of individuals" and that "we need to do something to address some of this stuff."
"This individual takes an elevator up to their office every single day and said the amount of time that he is stepping over individuals, or individuals are fighting, or that there's urine or feces in the elevator is just -- he's losing count at this point in time," said Watters, who noted that the resident calls the police department's non-emergency number "all the time."
McClure told The Journal that these situations are not necessarily unique to Sioux City and that representatives from the police department, Neighborhood Services, Downtown Partners and Siouxland Mental Health Center meet quarterly to discuss these issues. He said they continue to look at what other communities have done to alleviate similar problems.
Last June, the city launched a campaign to encourage people to donate to agencies that work directly with those experiencing homelessness, rather than give money to panhandlers. Then, in November, the council green-lighted an agreement with a local electrical contractor to provide and install security cameras at four city parking ramps in effort to curb crimes, such as burglary, drug possession, thefts from vehicles and incidents of criminal mischief. The cameras record the "comings and goings" at the ramps' entrances, but aren't monitored in real-time.
"I've got one officer on the day shift who almost daily walks the skywalks and tries to alleviate some of those situations," McClure said. "We do what we legally can do. People have the right to panhandle and it's not a crime to be homeless. We try to educate them about trespassing and damaging property and some of the things that they do to look for shelter."
Issues persist
On Mother's Day, Justin Johnston went for a walk near Century Plaza Apartments, where he has lived in Sioux City's downtown for 20 years.
"Just walking around the block itself, I found around six homeless people -- two of them sleeping at the US Bank entryway. There were two in the alley. One of them was in by the coffee shop," Johnston recalled.
After Johnston brought concerns about the homeless sleeping in Century Plaza's stairwells and other common areas to the Council's attention, durable no trespassing signs were affixed to the walls inside the building at 411 Nebraska St., and a tenant, who was letting in the homeless, was eventually evicted. That former tenant went to the Gospel Mission, but he was kicked out, according to Johnston. Now, Johnston said the man is back circling the building. He said an unlocked door, which is connected with the skywalk, still allows the homeless to access the building.
"We've had a couple people while intoxicated that still come in through the skywalk and get in the elevator and try knocking on people's doors," said Johnston, who said he has been warned by Century Plaza's management not to confront the homeless when he sees them trespassing. "We had incidents in our elevator where they would actually urinate and leave garbage behind."
McClure described the tenants of Century Plaza as "vocal" about the problems involving the homeless. He said the department has been working with tenants to identify people who need to be removed from the building and get them banned by management. He said the department has also been educating management about better securing the property. A message left Thursday for Century Plaza's manager was not immediately returned.
"Typically, what we'll do is we'll remove (the homeless). And, if it's the first time we've removed them, we'll typically give them a warning," McClure said. "We are sympathetic to the plight of many of these people. We want to treat them humanely, with dignity, but we're also obligated to uphold the property rights of the residents downtown. If warnings aren't working, then we'll look at filing charges or doing other things to dissuade them from continuing that behavior."
Johnston, who has epilepsy, said he would like to see more security in and around Century Plaza. He said the building's tenants are elderly and persons with disabilities.
"I know there are times where I did go back to my apartment and just call 911, but it took up to 40 minutes at times for them to come down here, because it's not an emergency," he said. "No, having someone that you don't know sleeping on your stairway or in your hall or on the couch, it is an emergency, especially for a person of disability. A lot of us don't have the capability of defending ourselves fully."
Offering stability
Since the city's rapid rehousing program began in January 2020, 99 households, consisting of 160 people, have been placed in permanent housing.
"The skywalk staff are excellent at identifying people they think might need assistance and, then, they will refer people to coordinated entry," said Amy Keairns, the city's Neighborhood Services outreach supervisor.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires individuals experiencing homelessness to go through the coordinated entry process in order to receive housing services. Coordinated entry helps communities assess the needs of individuals and prioritize their need for housing and the type of housing that would best serve them. However, individuals often face long wait times or are screened out.
"Sometimes, people have several addictions or a criminal background or any number of things that prevent landlords from accepting them into their units. So, that makes it a little bit trickier to house them as quickly as we want to," Keairns said. "We've been able to get landlords to participate because of the case management that we provide. We don't just drop someone who's been homeless for a number of years in an apartment and say, 'Good luck to you.' We provide those services, too."
In the meantime, while the homeless are waiting for permanent housing, the Warming Shelter, an emergency shelter at 916 Nebraska St., is open overnight during the winter months to all, including those who are intoxicated. Staying at the Gospel Mission is an option year-round, but the shelter has rules, which Keairns said not every resident is interested in following.
"They either don't want to stay there or they're not allowed to stay there," she said of some individuals.
Not having an I.D. or Social Security card is another barrier to securing housing, according to Keairns. She said Neighborhood Services' interns visit the Warming Shelter on a regular basis to help residents obtain those forms of identification so they can apply for an apartment.
A handful of the homeless also choose to leave the city each month, after receiving one-way bus tickets from Neighborhood Services, according to Keairns. She said the tickets, which are purchased with transportation funding, allow them to reunite with family in other parts of the country.
"It's a one-time thing. The intent is that's where their support system is and that they would stay there. We don't want people to shuttle back and forth," she said. "We want to make sure that they're somewhere where they can be stable."