HACKENSACK — Ahead of a week in which temperatures will max out in the mid-20s, the city has thrown in with a Bergen County-wide initiative to get the homeless out of the cold and into shelter.

Last week, the City Council endorsed the county’s Code Blue initiative that enables local law enforcement to identify homeless living on the street and transport them to shelters and warming centers. The county’s initiative is in compliance with state law signed in January that empowers municipalities to protect the homeless from cold weather.

“The purpose of the Code Blue initiative is to keep at-risk individuals out of harsh environments for their own health and safety,” said Matt Tiedermann, the county’s emergency management coordinator.

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The county initiative uses three points of criteria for local law enforcement to decide when to transport a homeless person to the shelter, said Tiedemann. If the temperature goes below 32 degrees with precipitation, below 25 degrees without precipitation or if the National Weather Service calls for a wind-chill of zero degrees for two hours or more, the law is in effect, said Tiedemann.

In Bergen County, the homeless are transported to Bergen County Housing, Health, and Human Services Center, on River Street in Hackensack. Although the law allows police to transport the homeless to the shelter, it is up to them if they want to stay, said Mary Sunden, executive director of Christ Church Community Development Corporation, which manages sheltering operations at the River Street center.

“People can come in themselves if they need to,” said Sunden. “The difference with Code Blue is that we’ll reach a little deeper and work a little harder to accept pretty much everyone.”

For most of the year, the shelter has a maximum capacity of 90 people that can live there year-round, said Sunden. The Code Blue initiative allows the shelter to accommodate an additional 15 people. If the shelter reaches a capacity of 120 people, the overflow will be directed to the Northwest Senior Activity Center in Midland Park.

As the county seat, it was important for Hackensack to mirror the countywide initiative and help direct the homeless population to potentially life-saving resources, said Mayor John Labrosse.

“Our police know the deal,” said Labrosse. “At 32 degrees they have to try to get people inside. They know how important it is to get them off the streets.”

The Hackensack Police Department is on heightened alert for the homeless and elderly on the streets, the people most susceptible to the elements, said one police official.

Residents are encouraged to call local police departments if they see anyone who may be homeless on the streets, said Tiedemann. For any further information, Tiedemann suggested calling the county’s Public Safety Operations Center in Mahwah, at 201-753-7762.

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