Homeless people camping along the South Platte River and Cherry Creek who left their possessions at the sites were likely to find them gone Thursday after the city mounted a major cleanup.
Advocates for the homeless expressed concern about the move to clear the homeless out of the areas.
“Our emergency shelter system is not sufficient to meet the needs of all who need a safe place, especially women and individuals with physical and mental disabilities,” said BJ Iacino, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless spokeswoman.
In the week leading to the cleanup, Denver police told those staying along the waterways to leave and that anything left behind would be disposed of, said Tom Luehrs, executive director of the St. Francis Center, a day shelter for the homeless.
Outreach workers were also on hand to advise people where they could go for shelter and were offering other services to those who wanted them, said Michael Sapp, neighborhood liaison with the mayor’s office.
Police “are working with human services to get folks camped along the river into a safe place,” Sapp said.
Denver has a citywide camping ban that, among other things, bars storing belongings anywhere outdoors.
Early Thursday, J.R. Bob Dobbs, 27, and Tashena Whittaker, 30, were under sleeping bags spread under a concrete overhang in Confluence Park, where Cherry Creek flows into the South Platte River.
They said police hadn’t contacted them.
Users of Commons and adjacent Confluence parks and nearby areas have complained about the actions of some of the homeless.
“They got enough complaints that they are doing a mass movement off a large area,” Luehrs said. “I’m not saying that things weren’t happening down there. I’m hearing that there were a lot of problems, people taking up space and blocking pathways, and there are just a lot of people there from out of town for the summer.”
In Confluence Park and other public spaces along the water, “transient kids hanging out in the park have been really aggressive and causing a lot of problems,” said Michael McCown, Denver parks superintendent.
Most of the homeless had moved out of the parks by Thursday, Luehrs said. “Our outreach teams were out there, and what I’m hearing from them is that people have gotten the message.”
Parks employees were joined by volunteers who took part in the cleanup as part of the 911 Day of Service and Remembrance.
Allison Dellwo, 28, said she was “picking up trash and doing some weeding, overall beautification.”
It is not uncommon during sweeps of the homeless for people to lose possessions, including medication, identification and other necessities when the area is cleared.
But Luehrs said the city has promised to collect and keep such items at a location where their owners can recover them.
Park rangers, the Denver Sheriff Department, Department of Human Services, the city attorney’s office and Department of Public Works also were involved in the action, according to an e-mail from Chris Conner, of Denver’s Road Home.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671, tmcghee@denverpost.com or twitter.com/dpmcghee
