The Orange County Sheriff’s Department plans to increase patrols of the Santa Ana River and the homeless people who live there following complaints from advocates, neighbors and politicians that a lack of police supervision has allowed crime to fester unchecked.

The plan, if approved by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, would mark a significant step in increasing law enforcement oversight of the county’s largest homeless encampment – a crime-ridden area that’s home to several hundred people. Over the past 18 months, the riverbed has largely been ignored by police and sheriff’s deputies, as agencies have waged jurisdictional battles saying they aren’t responsible for the land.

The sheriff’s department released few specifics of its strategy Thursday, other than saying it will deploy deputies in the river as part of a “seven-day-a-week enforcement plan.” How many deputies, and how they’ll perform their duties, were not disclosed.

But the department made clear that it will assume responsibility for policing the entire river and flood control channel in the county, even the areas “within incorporated cities” that the department previously said were not subject to its jurisdiction.

“We need to dedicate more resources to handle the concerning criminal element that continues to proliferate in the area,” Undersheriff Don Barnes wrote in an email. “The Sheriff’s Department is best suited to take the lead on this specific problem.”

For now, the department’s riverbed presence primarily involves escorting social service providers and county employees when they work in the encampments. The department also responds to some emergency calls and has said it would investigate some violent crimes.

The sheriff’s plan comes three months after the county board asked it to increase its presence in the flood control channel, and two months after the Register wrote about crime in the riverbed.

In June, when county supervisors approved a pilot program to begin dismantling the entrenched riverbed community by finding housing for the people living there, they also directed the sheriff’s department to come up with a plan for round-the-clock policing.

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Homeless encampment a growing problem for Fountain Valley residents who say police, government ignore But the department initially appeared reluctant. Agency leaders pointed to documents that showed some cities had signed agreements to police portions of the river banks.

When Sheriff Sandra Hutchens was asked in mid-June whether she needed additional funding to patrol the river, she said she didn’t, adding that she believed it best to work in collaboration with city police agencies. Anaheim police, in turn, said the encampment was largely outside its city limits, pointing to maps to support that claim. Police in Orange say they police their portion of the river.

Meanwhile, people living in the tents and lean-tos in the riverbed said the lack of police protection, combined with a “don’t snitch” attitude among residents had led to vigilante violence, sexual assaults and drug dealers operating with impunity.

Outside the camps, residents and businesses owners complain that homeless people harass them and that petty crime and used syringes are plaguing nearby neighborhoods. Fountain Valley residents who live near the river have complained that police discourage them from filing crime reports — an allegation denied by the city’s police chief. In Anaheim, some residents griped that when they call police about the riverbed homeless, they are bounced between agencies without help.

The sheriff’s department’s plan to become the lead agency in the area could address some of those problems. But increasing patrols is only a portion of the proposal, and the sheriff isn’t simply agreeing to tackle the issue on her own.

A second part to the plan calls for the sheriff’s department to convene regular meetings between police agencies that line the river to develop a coordinated approach.

Anaheim police spokesman Sgt. Daron Wyatt said some inter-agency meetings have already occurred. He said police in Anaheim, Santa Ana and Orange, along with the sheriff’s department, will designate lieutenants to address riverbed issues.

“The whole point is to have everyone on the same page,” Wyatt said. “We know it needs to be addressed.”

But some advocates worry that more police attention on the homeless could backfire.

Eve Garrow, homelessness policy analyst for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Orange County office, said she worried that the new patrols would mean increased harassment for homeless residents. She argued that police have a track record of hassling the riverbed community, stopping them without cause and enforcing nuisance ordinances associated with being homeless. But she said the patrols also could present an opportunity for deputies to build a new rapport with the homeless, gaining their trust and reducing crime.

“If they’re serious about their mission to protect and serve, they’re going to have to start from the beginning and establish trust with the community and not violate people’s civil rights,” Garrow said. “I think that if people living in these encampments believe the deputies are there to protect and serve them, it would be the start of a productive relationship.”

Barnes wrote that deputies on patrol would respect civil liberties but would not ignore crimes.

“Many people living in the riverbed legitimately need help and we are sympathetic to that,” Barnes wrote, “but we also need to address the criminal element there and the effect on the surrounding community.”