Judge: Third Street homeless camp has to go 'by any lawful means' necessary

Show Caption Hide Caption Third Street homeless camp moving east The encampment near the Bengals Stadium will be closed and cleaned. Homeless will move to a location on the east side of Cincinnati.

A homeless camp on Third Street Downtown should be removed "through any lawful means necessary," a judged declared Monday.

Judge Robert Ruehlman judge approved Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters's request to close the homeless camp.

In his decision, Ruehlman tasked the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office with clearing out the camps, including arresting city officials or people encouraging homeless to stay.

"Any official of the City of Cincinnati interfering with, or encouraging to violate, this order are subject to arrest for contempt," the order read.

Deters filed the lawsuit against the City of Cincinnati, alleging the Downtown encampment is a threat to health and public safety. A full hearing has been set for 9 a.m. Aug. 20.

"While I am sympathetic to the plight of the homeless, it is simply not healthy or desirable to have people living on the streets of Cincinnati," Deters said Monday.

Deters is asking the court to specify a geographic area where tent encampments will be banned. Since the judge agrees, that gives the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office the power to arrest people in the camp for trespassing.

"They will have a very limited time to leave," Deters told The Enquirer.

Deters said Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil has agreed to house anyone arrested in the jail.

More: John Cranley calls homeless camp 'unacceptable,' says Joe Deters is taking legal action

The proposed district where camps will be banned will run south of Central Parkway to the river, east of Interstate 75 and west of Eggleston Drive -- essentially all of Downtown.

"This is the doorstep to the city," Deters said.

"I think this important because the city is part of Hamilton County and the homeless camp has become a threat to the health and public safety of residents," Deters said.

Deters warned anyone -- including city council members -- who urge homeless campers to stay, will be arrested on obstruction of justice charges.

Health officials said Tuesday they were keeping an eye on hepatitis A and HIV in the camp.

Josh Spring, executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, said Deters offered no proof of the health hazards and drug use outlined in the lawsuit.

The plan for the camp cleanup is unknown, but Spring said he will be at the camp by 8 a.m. Tuesday to meet officers or city workers.

One of the city's top homeless service providers said those who encourage the homeless to stay outside in the camps are endangering them.

Kevin Finn, who runs Strategies to End Homelessness, said the city cleaning out camps - then allowing the homeless to return - encourages the homeless to stay outside.

People who sleep outside are three times likelier to die than people who stay in shelters and 10 times likelier to die than the general population, according to a recent study published in an American Medical Association journal.

Finn said there's room in shelters: Strategies counts 675 permanent beds plus additional beds at peak times to shelter up to 800. In winter, there are more single individuals, and summer brings more families.

Finn said the Shelterhouse men's and women's shelters have been over capacity since 2015, but the shelters do not turn people away.

"They bring people who show up at the door in and let them sleep on mattresses on the floor," Finn told The Enquirer. "But they can't make people come to the door, and the people on Third Street aren't coming to the door."

Advocate group Maslow's Army has called a press conference for Tuesday at City Hall to announce "new efforts" to help homeless people off the streets.

Mayor John Cranley called camping on public sidewalks "unacceptable" and "illegal" in a statement Friday, and said Deters would file actions in federal and state court.

"This presents a clear and present health and safety hazard to homeless individuals and the general public," Cranley said. "The city is working hard to end this."

The city planned to clear out the camp of about 20 people living in tents Friday before people living there sued the city; a judge denied their request not to be moved. Workers cleaned the area, and the homeless returned shortly after crews left.

Last month, the city announced it would sweep an overpass homeless camp by Third and Plum Streets. The acting city manager delayed the cleaning by six days and brought portable toilets, a dumpster and mobile health clinic to the camp. On July 25, the city cleaned and fenced off the area to prevent the homeless from returning.

More: Homeless camp beneath overpass cleared out, fenced off. Where did the homeless go?