EAST VILLAGE (KGTV) — Downtown San Diego business owners say homeless encampments are driving customers away, and city officials say they are working around the clock to respond.
Robyn Spencer, owner of East Village Tavern and Bowl, said foot traffic in the downtown area has declined over the last 10 years.
"You used to come down here just to celebrate whether there was a game or a concert. Now you only come here if there's a game or a concert," Spencer said.
Spencer said she believes people living on the streets are part of the reason customers are staying away.
"They're tired of walking over needles and defecation, watching people have their meltdowns," Spencer said.
"No one wants to walk past a tent where someone's doing something special inside, and the flap opens up," Spencer said.
Spencer said the yellow curb in front of her restaurant serves as the safest drop-off point for customers trying to avoid encampments.
According to the city's Get It Done app, there have been more than 400 reports of encampments within the last 14 days.
San Diego Police Department Captain of Neighborhood Policing Steve Shebloski said downtown is one of the department's main areas of concern.
"So we deploy the majority of our police resources here at neighborhood policing to downtown to make it as clean and safe as possible for everyone," Shebloski said.
Shebloski said addressing the problem is complex, but the department is committed to seven days a week. He said response times through the Get It Done app have improved significantly.
"We've really worked hard over the last couple of years to reduce that, get it done whole time, where we used to be up to 3 weeks to now we've reduced it down to generally 1 week or under," Shebloski said.
Shebloski said officers respond to around 800 Get It Done reports per week.
"If they're breaking the law and they need to take enforcement, and they're going to do that. If it's something we connect them with services through homeless outreach, then we're going to do that," Shebloski said.
While the San Diego Police Department handles the safety aspect of the issue, the city's Environmental Services Department addresses sanitation concerns.
Franklin Coopersmith, deputy director of Environmental Services, said crews are actively working to clean affected areas.
"We do sidewalk sanitizing which includes going after the abatements, cleaning. And any feces, urine, anywhere, we will go around with this crew and go and clean those sidewalks," Coopersmith said.
Coopersmith said the most challenging part for city crews is prioritizing which action to take first.
"If people are having to walk in the streets to get around. Something that's probably going to take priority over someone that's just taking a break and sitting in front of someone's business," Coopersmith said.
Officials say the Get It Done app remains the best way to report a problem in downtown San Diego.
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