The Oregonian | By Nicole Hayden | May 10, 2022
Portland is enacting new policies to ensure homeless individuals are aware of impending sweeps and can retrieve their possessions in response to a lawsuit filed last year.
Four individuals experiencing homelessness filed a class-action lawsuit against the city last May over how it conducted homeless encampment removals. The plaintiffs did not seek a monetary award and the lawsuit was dismissed Monday as a result of the city’s new policies.
The plaintiffs contended at the time that contracted city workers often illegally destroyed and disposed of valuable personal possessions. Additionally, the plaintiffs argued that the city failed to document property that was discarded “making it practically impossible to conduct any meaningful review of whether the items were indeed suitable only for the trash or did in fact have some value,” according to a press release from the Oregon Justice Resource Center, which represented the plaintiffs along with attorney Michael Fuller.
At the time, the city was already required under a court ruling to collect and store personal property that was removed from camps for up to 30 days to allow people an opportunity to collect it.
Under its new policy, the city will take additional steps to ensure personal property is stored and individuals are aware of where they can collect their things. Changes the city has made to their sweeps policy include:
The city must let campers know about a planned sweep the day before it is scheduled to occur.
• The city must be specific about the physical boundaries of the removal.
• The city must inform residents what will happen during a camp removal.
• The city must tell residents what property will be stored and how they can retrieve it.
• The city must hold on to certain items for a longer amount of time.
• The city must keep a photo database of what is being stored.
“These changes address some of the complaints that unhoused Portlanders have had about sweeps which have tended to create unneeded stress and anxiety,” the justice center said in a statement. “There has been a lack of certainty about exactly when, within a seven-day window, a sweep will take place.”
Heather Hafer, spokesperson for the city department that does encampment removals, said the city was pleased to update its policies on handling personal property.
“The amended policy incorporates some suggestions that will provide more transparency, clarity and predictability to all involved,” she said. “Some changes will help city staff perform their work more effectively. We’re very pleased with this outcome.”
The city has also published an information page about the updated sweeps policies to let people know about the process, what items will be saved and thrown away and how people can get their items back. While most items will be stored for at least 30 days, the city said prescription drugs will be held until their expiration date, identification cards, credit and debit cards and money will be stored for at least a year and the city will extend the hold time up to 90 days for all other property if someone is having a hard time picking up their items because they are about to move into a home or shelter, are at a hospital or are incarcerated.
“This does not mean an end to sweeps or the constant trauma and harms that come with those removals. And it doesn’t solve homelessness; only housing can,” said Franz Bruggemeier, an attorney with the Oregon Justice Resource Center, in a statement. “But we hope it will provide clarity to those living outside in public to better be able to reduce some of the harms of being removed from the places they are living.”
