Pierce County still has large homeless encampments, despite sheriff’s efforts. Here’s why

TACOMA – Staffing shortages have undermined success the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department had seen in reducing the number of large homeless encampments in recent years, deputy Jeff Papen said in a presentation to the Pierce County Select Committee on Homelessness on Wednesday afternoon.

Papen works as a code enforcement deputy on the department’s team tasked with addressing illegal encampments.

Although the department had eliminated many large illegal encampments in unincorporated Pierce County in 2021, Papen said some of them returned after staff reductions in 2022 and 2023 hurt the department’s ability to keep encampments cleared and provide outreach services.

Encampments are usually dangerous places, with crimes occurring both inside the encampment and in the community as a result of residents’ activity there, Papen said. The department has investigated shootings, murders, human trafficking, sex crimes, missing-persons cases, as well as illegal trespass and illegal dumping at some of the sites, he said.

Papen said many people enter homelessness in different ways, whether it’s a loss of a home, the struggle to find affordable housing or a family fleeing domestic violence.

In encampments, Papen said, his staff often find people who are chronically homeless, who have been without a home for over a year, have serious trauma and substance-abuse problems, typically pills, methamphetamine or alcohol. Drug use amplifies mental health issues, he said.

Papen said the department has seen instances in which drug sellers or distributors set up an encampment, drawing in people who are and aren’t homeless to buy and sell drugs. Those are often places where the department sees violence and serious crimes, he said.

More outreach workers and resources are needed to build trust in those communities, connect unhoused people with resources and housing, as well as keep encampments clear, Papen said.

Areas of focus for the department have been county and state property, right-of-way property (like public streets, alleys and sidewalks), nuisance residences, private vacant land, railroad property and the Puyallup River Levee, Papen said.

Staffing shortages hinder ability to clear encampments

When the Sheriff Department’s illegal encampment task force started in 2018, Papen said, the department’s No. 1 complaint was large encampments throughout unincorporated Pierce County.

“By large size, I mean 30 to 75 encampments on one site, which equates to nearly 100 people cycling through that spot on any given day,” he said. “And we had them from east to west. On Meridian, on Canyon, on Portland Avenue. And then on Pacific Avenue and on Sales Road and Steele Street, all the way across the county. By the time our (community liaison deputies) went back to patrol (in 2022), there were no large-sized encampments anywhere in unincorporated Pierce County.”

From 2018 to 2021 the department had five community liaison deputies, one code enforcement deputy (Papen’s position) and one sergeant working to address illegal encampments.

From 2022 to August, that number was reduced to one sergeant and one code enforcement deputy due to staffing restraints and the need to have additional deputies responding to 911 calls countywide, Papen said.

“It wasn’t the safest environment, and we weren’t as effective, and we couldn’t nearly do as much” to address encampments, Papen said. With fewer staff able to patrol, “almost immediately” some encampments that were once cleared have come back “in very short order,” he said.

Because other law enforcement departments continued to clear encampments in their jurisdictions, additional people came out to unincorporated Pierce County as well, Papen said.

“We started to see encampments take hold throughout the county on all types of property: on (Department of Transportation) property, on county-owned property, on tribal property, on our railroads and certainly on private property,” he said. “And with those encampments came an increase in crime (and) a tremendous increase in calls for service for our deputies … “

Since August, two community-liaison deputies were added back to the team, bringing the total number to four, Papen said. The two community-liaison deputies had previously worked on the team, which has helped in re-establishing trust that was lost, he said.

“While we have two here, our two small but mighty crew do an amazing amount of work. It cannot be overstated what an impact that they have on our community,” Papen said. “They’re incredibly hardworking deputies with a great deal of integrity and care and compassion.”

Papen said although the department deals with criminal encampments and illegal behavior, “if we want to see any possible change, then we have to start with relationships.”

Challenges remain

Papen said challenges and obstacles to clearing encampments remain.

Among them are a lack of outreach coordinators, a lack of treatment services, as well as short-term and long-term shelters, negligent property owners who allow encampments to form and the high costs for private-property clean-up of debris, he said.

Partnerships with the Prosecutor’s Office, Public Works and other homeless-outreach teams have been helpful in their work, Papen said. The department has been working with the Greater Lakes Mental Health services, which has field nurses, mental health specialists, substance-abuse specialists and other specialists who can help people get into treatment, housing and shelter.

“They used to be a robust team. We could call them, and they would be there at any given moment. But I mean, this is tough work. And there’s a high burnout and turnover in this industry,” Papen said. “And I can tell you that right now, if I reached out to them, there are not a lot of them. We need more outreach workers … in the field to make contact with somebody who’s living out in the woods.”

Another challenge is not being able to get people into treatment right away, Papen said.

“Even if I did have a heart-to-heart with somebody sitting around a fire at 7 o’clock in the morning and it’s 20 degrees, we’re talking about how we are as human beings, and they say in that moment, ‘You know what, I do want to go to treatment.’ I can’t get them in,” he said. “They may have to wait at least three weeks to get into a program. What happens in three weeks’ time frame? A lot. A lot happens in an hour. We need resources where we can get these people who are willing to accept them into a treatment facility right away.”

In his presentation Wednesday, Papen highlighted some of the department’s successes in clearing encampments, including at Golden Oaks at 96th Street East and 9th Street Southwest, where 22 homeowners signed trespass agreements, 16 people were formally trespassed and 50 tons of solid waste were removed.

At the Wonderland encampment at 149th Street South and C Street South, 61 people were formally trespassed and services were provided for a juvenile who was being sex-trafficked. Compared to 2022, as of Monday violent crime rates in 2023 were down 48%, property crimes were down 36%, calls for service were down 14% and the number of reports written were down 15% within a half mile radius of that site, according to the department.

Members of the Pierce County Council, including Robyn Denson, Paul Herrera and Jani Hitchen thanked Papen for his presentation and commended him and his team for their work. Tacoma City Council members John Hines and Sarah Rumbaugh were also present and expressed their appreciation.

In response to a question from Denson about the sometimes devastating impact of sweeps for people living in encampments, especially for those who aren’t ready to accept services, Papen acknowledged that remains a challenge for his team. He said those who may join another encampment are reminded they still have access to the social services they were connected with previously. Papen said this segment of the population, especially those impacted by substance abuse, struggle with self-advocacy and need people in the field constantly working with them to get help.

“I think you hit on the head. When you’re dealing with substance abuse, it’s not about self-discipline anymore,” Denson said. “It’s a disease.”

How are illegal encampments cleared?

The process of clearing an encampment begins when the department receives a complaint or observes an encampment. Deputies then identify and inform the property owner of the situation, contact those trespassing and connect them with an outreach team and social services, Papen said.

In response to a question from Tacoma City Council member John Hines about whether the department tracks outreach efforts, Papen said the department does keep track of who they contact, where and when to help them follow up on their case in the future.

Those trespassing will see 72-hour notice-to-vacate signage posted, which includes the date and time the notice was posted, date and time of removal, warning that solid waste will be disposed of immediately, information about how to claim personal property and contact information for an outreach provider.

The final stage is the cleanup process, in which contractors come to clean up the solid waste and remove hazards. The department then will work with the property owner to put up barriers to discourage future illegal camping, called Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. This could look like trimming trees or brush, opening up public lines of sight or adding boulders, in addition to ‘No Trespassing’ signage to discourage illegal camping, Papen said.

“It makes a huge difference. And it’s been like pulling teeth to get people to buy into it, but when they do, they’re grateful they did,” he said. “Private property owners and county owners and state property owners have been having us escort them out to the same properties over and over and over again to clean up a lot of solid waste.

“It is costing them time, money and resources. It’s costing our Sheriff’s Department, who’s already depleted in this area, time and resources. We’re all about thinking smarter and planning smarter.”