Guest Post by Dave Donelson, Colorado Springs City Councilman
City Council had the chance to improve the quality of life of the citizens of Colorado Springs – and we failed. Instead of voting to update our city ordinances and restrict living in a motor vehicle on our public streets, we punted, and now the frustration and fear that numerous citizens are enduring will continue for at least another six months. That is wrong. Citizens want order and safety in their neighborhoods and throughout the city. Council has failed them.
The “broken windows” theory of policing posits that allowing low level crime and disorder invites worsening levels of crime and disorder. That is what allowing people to live in vehicles on our public streets does. It creates a sense of unease among all of us. We see disorder and low-level crime around these vehicles and the city does nothing about it.
Currently, Colorado Springs does not prohibit living in a car in our city. We should. The only enforcement tool CSPD has when responding to a concerned citizen’s call is a $50 parking citation if the car isn’t moved 100 feet in the next 3 days. You can imagine how thrilled a homeowner is to find out that is all that CSPD can do when they have called about people they don’t know living in a vehicle in front of their house.
The ordinance which Council considered, and then balked at, would have required the vehicle and occupants to be gone within 24 hours, and required them to move at least 1,000 feet. If you were the homeowner or renter, which would you prefer? The possible penalty would also increase to a maximum of $2,500, up to189 days in jail, probation, or any combination of those.
Is this a perfect solution? No, and there probably isn’t one. Is it better than what we have now? Yes. Will it improve the lives of our citizens? Yes, and that is what Council should always have as our goal.
These stiffer penalties may very well have been an effective tool in the hands of our CSPD and prosecutors to encourage violators to accept help from various homeless outreach organizations, substance abuse treatment, or mental health treatment in exchange for probation rather than a different penalty. Council learned from our CSPD Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) leadership that 75% of homeless individuals they contact refuse “services” – or even information about the services that can help them.
I asked the HOT team leadership if the “car camping” ordinance would help them do their job. They said yes it would. It would improve PUBLIC SAFETY. Isn’t PUBLIC SAFETY what every council member ran on and says is their number one priority?
The Mayor’s Chief of Staff informed Council that the Mayor supported the ordinance and felt that it was wrong that citizens have to be fearful for their children to play in the front yard or go to the park. She also informed us that our CSPD Chief of Police supported the ordinance.
This is a real problem that impacts many neighborhoods and businesses. It is demoralizing and angering for law abiding citizens to live in a city where there is apparently no urgency on the part of Council to address this problem. We may never have a “perfect” solution – but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t quickly improve the situation for regular homeowners and businesses.
At the Council session where we considered this ordinance I said that if citizens were given the chance to vote on this ordinance it would pass overwhelmingly. However, after Council listened to about 30 advocates for the homeless, five council members did not feel it was urgent to act on the current disorder which our citizens face – and postponed any action for six months. If you disagree, and believe Council should approve this ordinance, please contact Council at allcouncil@coloradosprings.gov and let us know.
