Santa Ana Tuesday began enforcing a new ordinance in a popular homeless encampment next to the Orange County Superior Courthouse, pushing many of the transients out.

For the past few years, a growing number of area homeless started residing in the Plaza of the Flags next to the Central Justice Center.

City officials in recent months began putting together a plan to clean up the plaza, spurred by concerns raised when a homeless encampment in San Diego led to a hepatitis outbreak.

Homeless encampment at the civic center in Santa Ana on November 9, 2017. (Ken Steinhardt, Staff File)

In this 2016 file photo homeless people set up tents on the outskirts of the Santa Ana Civic Center Plaza. (Bill Alkofer, Staff File)

Sound The gallery will resume in seconds

In 2016, Santa Ana Police officer Cassandra Hawkins talks with Teri Minyard and David Brown in the Santa Ana Civic Center. Hawkins is part of the Santa Ana Police Department’s Homeless Evaluation Assessment Response Team. (Bill Alkofer, Staff File)

Homeless encampment at the civic center in Santa Ana on November 9, 2017. (Ken Steinhardt, Staff File)

In this 2016 file photo homeless people set up encampments in the Santa Ana Civic Center Plaza. (Bill Alkofer, Staff File)



In this 2016 file photo a homeless man stands next to his bicycle in the Santa Ana Civic Center plaza area. (Bill Alkofer, Staff File)

In this 2016 file photo homeless people set up encampments in the Santa Ana Civic Center Plaza. (Bill Alkofer, Staff File)

For the past month, city officials have been advising the transients that they could no longer pitch a tent at the plaza. Also, the city has been periodically clearing them out to wash down the concrete during the day, forcing them to pick up their belongings and move toward nearby public property where the Orange County law library and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices are located.

Transients can stay in the plaza and sleep there overnight if they wish, but cannot pitch a tent or keep any number of other items there such as shopping carts, gas tanks, generators, batteries or weapons.

“There were safety issues and that’s what we’ve tried to mitigate,” said Santa Ana City Councilman Sal Tinajero.

One of the prime security concerns with tents was that it also offered some privacy for criminals, Tinajero said.

“There were assaults you couldn’t see — the officers were blocked from view,” Tinajero said.

Tinajero has visited the plaza and concluded there are many who want the city’s help finding shelter and some who do not want assistance.

“You have a large segment of homeless people looking for a place to be,” Tinajero said. “Those are the ones easy to get off the street because we have services for them.

“However, there is another group of individuals who prefer not to receive any of the help and some of those individuals are mentally ill and require treatment. Others are self-medicating and still require treatment and there’s a very small segment that chooses the lifestyle (of living on the streets).”

The old bus terminal, which is nearby, has been transformed into a shelter, but the transients are not allowed to use drugs there, Tinajero said.

“It’s a pretty well-controlled environment, but when you go out to the plaza that’s where you have quite a few people self-medicating and when they run out of money to buy the drug they’re using that’s when crimes start to happen.”

Bicycle thefts jumped in the area, Tinajero said.

Many transients said their bicycles or skateboards — their main means of transportation — were being stolen, he said.

“They said it was hard to sleep because someone would take their bike or skateboard,” he said.

Deputy City Manager Robert Cortez said the city has tried to address the homeless issue at the plaza as gingerly as possible.

“Our staff is really working hard,” he said. “They’re really working diligently to implement the ordinance in a humane and successful way.”