BART starts enforcing ban on stretching out at Powell Street

Near the Powell Street BART station, a group of homeless men find some shade in San Francisco, Calif. Near the Powell Street BART station, a group of homeless men find some shade in San Francisco, Calif. Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close BART starts enforcing ban on stretching out at Powell Street 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

BART police on Monday began enforcing a ban on sleeping, lying or sitting with legs extended at the busy Powell Street Station and said they plan to expand the crackdown systemwide.

The enforcement action, which involved as many as nine BART police officers Monday, is a safety measure intended to ensure that stations can be evacuated in four to six minutes in an emergency, said Jeffrey Jennings, BART's deputy police chief.

Jennings said the campaign is not intended to target the homeless, though BART police are aware that's how it may be construed.

"Everyone's going to spin it as an attack on the homeless," he said. "It isn't. It's about getting everyone out in an emergency."

BART police became concerned with the growing number of people sleeping, lying down or sitting with legs extended in downtown stations with long corridors. State law requires BART to be able to evacuate stations promptly in emergencies, Jennings said. A 2012 electrical arc that filled Civic Center Station with smoke and resulted in near-panic as the station was evacuated was especially troubling.

People sleeping, lying down or sitting in a way that obstructs the flow of pedestrians could hamper evacuations, Jennings said. BART police will enforce the law equally against anyone sleeping or lying in stations and will allow people who comply with the law to remain in the stations.

"People who don't have a home are welcome to stay here," he said, "as long as they are upright and alert."

According to BART police, who have posted temporary notices at the Powell Street Station, a three-step policy will be followed:

Officers will first issue a spoken warning, and ask the person to stand or sit up with legs crossed or beneath them. A second contact will involve checking identification and issuing a citation without a fine. A third contact will result in a summons for a court appearance, and the person would be subject to arrest, fine or jail.

BART started the program at Powell, Jennings said, because it has the biggest problem. It plans to extend the program to other stations, including Civic Center and Montgomery next, but Jennings did not say when.

BART police began enforcing the ordinance early Monday and approached 17 people, Jennings said. One was arrested for outstanding warrants, but the rest complied. Entrances to the Powell Street Station and the long hallway on the eastern end are often lined with people sleeping or sitting with legs stretched out. The entrances were empty Monday afternoon.

But many people were gathered on nearby corners, such as Mason and Eddy streets, where a half-dozen homeless men reclined on the sidewalk, one of them sleeping. Therman White, 40, said he had been rousted from the Powell Station, where he has hung out for the past eight months, often hawking Street Sheets and sometimes sleeping.

"This is what they said to me: You are not allowed to sit down," he said. "They were coming up to some people and saying you have to get up and get out."

Bevan Dufty, the mayor's point person on homelessness, said BART police have been meeting with city officials for months on a number of issues involving the homeless. City officials were informed of the enforcement plan, he said, and asked BART to collect information on contacts with people violating the law. City officials will meet and discuss the program with BART police in three weeks, he said.

"BART represented that safety concerns motivated their actions," he said. "We are going to provide assistance from (the San Francisco Homeless Outreach Team) when an individual expresses interest, though our resources are constrained."