SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Earl Hill says he has never been to a San Diego County jail but knows many homeless people who have.
Hill, 55, has been living on San Diego streets for about nine months.
He wasn’t surprised a new report from the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) found over half the people in the county jail had experienced homelessness.
Hill says he’s seen his fellow homeless peers jailed for minor crimes and has been incarcerated out of state himself.
“I see them get locked up. They be getting locked up for petty stuff,” he said in an interview downtown Friday.
Researchers with SANDAG interviewed 300 people in two county jails last year and found 65% had experienced homelessness.
Of those surveyed, 40% reported having a mental health disorder and 29% had committed a crime to support their drug addiction.
Principal researcher Octavio Rodriguez said 72% of people had housing stability issues in their life and often at a young age.
“What's important about this outcome is to point out the connection between housing stability and the criminal justice system.”
The researchers also found more than half the arrestees had consumed meth before being sent to jail.
The report’s release comes as the City of San Diego’s controversial ordinance banning homeless encampments in public places when shelter beds are available is expected to come into force later this month.
The ordinance makes it illegal for the homeless to camp at any time regardless of shelter bed availability near schools, transit hubs, and parks.
The city says it’s going to start enforcing the ordinance with outreach workers.
A pamphlet on the city’s website says enforcement will start with education on the law during the first interaction with a homeless person.
If they refuse shelter two times, they can be given a citation. If the person continues to refuse shelter, they can be given a misdemeanor and sent to jail.
A new “safe” sleeping site opened by the city had a total of 27 people sleeping in it on Friday, according to a tweet by Mayor Todd Gloria.
Hill wonders where homeless people will go once the ordinance comes into force.
“That’s a dictatorship. That ain’t freedom. That’s going against your constitutional rights. You have the right to go where you want to go. If you don’t want to go to no shelter that’s your right not to go,” he argued.
