Frustrated and fed up with the thefts and damage done by homeless campers. More businesses in Fife are speaking out.
Many of them have poured thousands of dollars into repairs and taken extra steps to try to curb the crimes.
Several business owners contacted KOMO News to see if we could help.
Ken Luce, the owner of Luce and Associates law firm in Fife spent $10-thousand dollars to add security measures to protect his business.
He has already spent thousands of dollars fixing the damage homeless campers have already done. He says he’s had enough and wants the city to do something about it.
Teresa Freeman says homeless campers are taking advantage of the area around this Fife law office on 12th Street East.
“They live in here; they go to the bathroom in here a lot. They've cut these cords. They sometimes get into this room here,” said Teresa Freeman.
Things have gotten pretty bad. She keeps a close eye on the security cameras during the workday.
“This is where like to live back here. They are leaving disgusting things-- feces, clothes,” said Freeman.
Attorney Ken Luce says he’s already spent 10 grand putting in extra lighting to keep his employees safe at night.
The damage done by homeless campers beside his business has been a massive headache.
“In the past, they have broken 3 glass windows, each of which cost me $600 bucks to fix,” said Luce. “They broke into my heat pump and cut the copper wire. They went up on the roof, cut the other wires for different services. They leave trash around the building.”
He went on to say, "They have utilized my water to the extent of a very large water bill. They will tap into my faucets. We have had to cover them up. They will utilize my outside electrical fixtures by plugging in their microwave ovens. We have had to cover them up. They made my secretaries very scared to go to in the dark to their cars so I've had to put up lighting."
“Our skylight collapsed. We didn’t know what was going on,” said Freeman. “They’re up on our roof, breaking cables for our air conditioning unit.”
Just half a mile down away at Tacoma Diesel, there's more trouble because of homeless campers.
“Sunday, somebody cut the chain-link fence, got into the back of our building, and got a weed eater and a blower that we use to take care of the property,” said Curt Bartnes, the General Manager.
He said homeless campers have stolen catalytic converters from his work vans four times now. He says the trouble stems from homeless campers about 200 yards away from his business.
“A new freeway is going to run over here from 167 to 509. The state owns all that property. They have just recently moved out a number of camps back in there with 100 people or more. There is still a camp at the end of the road on Fife property, Tacoma property, Port of Tacoma property. There’s a big encampment back there,” said Bartnes.
The Fife Police Chief says the city is working hard to tackle the homeless problem. But they need help.
“It needs to be treated as a state and regional issue. No city-- no matter how big or small they are --can deal with this by themselves. We need enough mental health resources, drug and dependency resources, transitional housing and shelters for people,” said Chief Pete Fisher.
According to the police chief, there are currently 43 homeless encampments in the City of Fife with 144 people.
The Chief says in the past, the city of fife has cleared away 39 other camps.