Barnstable police cleaned up several homeless camps including two off Old Colony Road and Yarmouth Road in Hyannis.



Police and Barnstable County inmates began the daylong task at 8:00 a.m.



Lt. David Cameron said tearing the camps down is about protecting the homeless population who lived in tents hidden in the wooded areas.



"The cold weather is upon us now and we are out here trying to motivate these people to seek the kinds of help they need to find shelter for the winter months. They do not belong in the conditions out here. We are trying to do everything we possibly can to avert a tragedy in the woods," Cameron said.



Cameron said officers notified occupants 10 days prior to the cleanup that the camps would be torn down and any belongings would be disposed of. There were 14 individual campsites targeted.