Oakland officials want to stop homeless people from camping overnight in parks and plazas and on sidewalks, proposing a pilot program that would bring the city in line with its neighbors but is drawing rebukes from homeless advocates.

The city has a law that prevents overnight camping in parks, but police and public works crews do not enforce it, because of staffing limitations and concerns over potential litigation. Homelessness has spiked in Oakland in the past two years, however, and officials are reviewing city policies to confront the crisis.

In its proposal to an Oakland City Council committee, city staff noted that “encampments in parks have a disproportionate impact on the entire community as these areas are no longer available for recreation.”

“If the City Council supported a strong position that encampments in parks are not acceptable, then (Oakland Police Department) could begin to warn and eventually cite those who repeatedly violate the policy,” the staff proposal said.

After two warnings, police could issue citations to people who sleep in parks and plazas or clog sidewalks on both sides of the street and other “high pedestrian traffic areas.” Under the program, those re-entering closed encampments elsewhere in the city also would be subject to warnings and citations.

A council committee held a hearing Wednesday night on the proposal and other homelessness policy changes.

But after contentious interactions with the public and city staff, the report was never presented. After a member of the public yelled at Joe DeVries, an assistant to the city administrator who focuses on homelessness policies, and called him a “murderer,” he walked out of the council chambers.

But a woman attempted to stop him by grabbing his arm and said, “You are not allowed to leave.”

DeVries left the room and did not return to present the proposal.

Maraskeshia Smith, an assistant to the city administrator, said she was “appalled” that council members did not intervene when a member of the public “put their hand” on staff.

“I will not tolerate it nor will I work for an organization that allows this,” she said.

The full council will decide later whether and how changes are implemented. A date was not specified on when the proposal would be heard.

“It would be much easier if we just said parks are closure zones,” DeVries had said earlier. “You just can’t be in the park. That’s an easy border to create. It’s very obvious where parks begin and end, and it would free us up to providing better services elsewhere.”

Advocates blasted the city’s proposal, calling it unacceptable and inhumane. The city should instead focus on identifying vacant parcels of land and making them available for homeless encampments instead of “further criminalizing” unsheltered people who have no choice but to set up camp in parks and on sidewalks, said Talya Husbands-Hankin, an advocate who advises the city on homeless issues.

“We should not be cracking down on people, citing and criminalizing them when we have not come up with adequate solutions and options for people,” she said. “This is a further step of criminalizing the most vulnerable people in our community and again violating people’s basic human rights.”

Overall homelessness in Oakland increased by 47% in the past two years, with a 68% increase in the number of unsheltered people — from 1,902 to 3,210 people. There are an estimated 60 encampments of three or more people in Oakland with approximately 730 total people living in the encampments.

The city does not track how many people are camping in parks, though visitors to Lake Merritt and other public areas see them regularly. At least seven parks are affected by encampments, including Willow Park in West Oakland and Mosswood Park near North Oakland.

Compared to San Francisco and Berkeley, Oakland is known to have more lenient policies toward homeless people setting up encampments. The city claims not to shut down encampments unless they have another option to offer — either a spot at the community cabin sites or in an RV safe parking lot — and the new proposal would extend those offerings to those being removed from parks.

Berkeley has ordinances in place that prevent overnight camping in parks and taking up space on the city’s sidewalks. San Francisco generally does not allow people to sleep overnight in city parks. Some homeless people still do, but will be ticketed if they are caught, according to the Coalition on Homelessness.

A 2016 ballot measure allows San Francisco to clear homeless encampments if people are given 24 hours notice and offered a shelter bed.

Advocates say that instead of imposing a crackdown, the city should focus on alternative solutions for people.

“What we are seeing is that the only shelter that (the city has) been offering people is a shelter bed at St. Vincent de Paul, which is absolutely inadequate,” Husbands-Hankin said. “You cannot bring belongings, you cannot bring pets, you cannot bring partners. It’s not an adequate and realistic option for most people.”

DeVries said that each encampment would be evaluated individually. “We want to be able to have the authority (to say), ‘No, you have to move now because you’re creating a hazard.’ For individuals that continue to ignore what the city is asking, eventually enforcement is the only option.”

That will also apply to encampments that take up sidewalks on both sides of the street, a travel lane or bike lane, DeVries said. One side of the sidewalk has to be open, he added.

Last week, the city closed down part of an encampment at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and 23rd Street because it encroached on a bike lane. The encampment was mostly left alone, but the northern end that spilled into the bike lane was cleared, DeVries said.

“There is an example of an active safety hazard that is being created by an encampment,” he said.

Husbands-Hankin said advocates have been calling for more compassion toward homeless people and the newest proposal just further exacerbates the plight that many unsheltered people face.

“Homeless people are members of our community,” she said. “This is not a separate group of people. These are voters and members of our community, and we have a responsibility to meet their basic human rights instead of criminalizing folks for something that is outside of their control.”

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani