KPBS Midday Edition

New Program Clears Minor Infractions For Homeless Who Stay At Bridge Shelter For 30 Days

By Jade Hindmon / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host, Brooke Ruth / Senior Producer of Audio News

Published January 8, 2020 at 10:55 AM PST

This story was published more than 4 years ago.

Police officers remove a tent left by the homeless during efforts to sanitize neighborhoods to control the spread of hepatitis A, in San Diego., Sept. 25, 2017.

New Program Clears Minor Infractions For Homeless Who Stay At Bridge Shelter For 30 Days

The program gives homeless individuals who face arrest or a ticket for minor quality-of-life issues the option of going to the Alpha Project’s shelter in East Village. If they stay there for 30 days their infraction is cleared.

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Police Departments across the country have been criticized for criminalizing homelessness. A new program operated by the San Diego Police Department and Alpha Project is trying to change that.

The program gives homeless individuals who face arrest or a ticket for minor quality-of-life issues the option of going to Alpha Project’s shelter in East Village. If they stay there for 30 days their infraction is cleared. Quality-of-life issues include infractions related to encroachment, littering and public urination.

Fifty beds at the 17th Street and Imperial Avenue shelter are reserved for the program.

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RELATED: Homeless Encampment in Spring Valley Shows Spread of San Diego’s Homeless Crisis

Bob McElroy, president and CEO of Alpha Project, joined Midday Edition Wednesday to discuss the program.

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KPBS Midday Edition Homelessness Law Enforcement

Jade Hindmon

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Jade Hindmon is the host of KPBS Midday Edition. She connects San Diego through fearless conversations that inform, inspire and make you think. Prior to Midday Edition Jade was a reporter and fill-in anchor in the KPBS newsroom covering everything from politics to policing and the economy. Her award winning work spans network affiliates across the southeast and midwest. As a very proud Rattler, Jade studied broadcast journalism and political science at Florida A&M University. She takes a special interest in topics about democracy, accountability, racial justice, science and wellness.

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Brooke Ruth

Brooke Ruth is the senior producer of Audio News. She previously served as a producer for "KPBS Midday Edition" and a web producer. Before joining KPBS, Brooke was a web editor for four newspapers and a local television station. She began her career in news at the Imperial Valley Press. She has also been part of the web teams at the Napa Valley Register, North County Times, and U-T San Diego. While pursuing her undergraduate degree at UCLA in psychology, she worked on the student newspaper, the Daily Bruin.

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KPBS News: Public Safety Policy

KPBS has created a public safety coverage policy to guide decisions on what stories we prioritize, as well as whose narratives we need to include to tell complete stories that best serve our audiences. This policy was shaped through months of training with the Poynter Institute and feedback from the community. You can read the full policy here.

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