Big stick energy: Fresno uses real deterrence to fix homelessness way faster than San Jose

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Just like in the Bay Area, Fresno leads with the carrot. This Central Valley city has ramped up housing programs and social services, which help get people off the street. Even folks who don’t at first comply are given every opportunity, in order to avoid jail. But, as SF Chronicle’s Kevin Fagan reports, some "continuously service-resistant" people could still end up behind bars.

The biggest city in the valley, Fresno, has embraced perhaps the most aggressive actions of all — well beyond measures taken by its counterparts to the northwest like San Francisco and San Jose.

On Monday, a city ban on any encampments on public land goes into effect, soon to be followed on Oct. 13 by another policy prohibiting camping on private land — essentially making it illegal to camp in the city. Violations can bring a $1,000 fine or a year in jail.

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Quietly, with little outside attention, Fresno has been cracking down on camps and ramping up its services so vigorously that its leaders say the city is on track to drastically reduce its homeless population. The new camping bans are just the latest moves — with one more twist to come.

On Monday, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer said he plans to add more teeth to the ban by ordering the police department to arrest the most troublesome, continuously service-resistant homeless people in Fresno. It could mean scores of people tossed in jail. 

Dyer estimates that, from among the nearly 1,400 unsheltered people in Fresno, about 5% fit that “problematic” category. “But even at that point,” he said, “instead of defaulting to the jail, we want to also give those people an opportunity for treatment,” including housing programs and rehab, if needed, he said. “And if they choose treatment, we will hold that police report in abeyance until they complete a program. And if they complete a program, we will dispose of it.”

Read the whole thing here.

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Related:

• Fresno County's ideas to address homeless encampments more aggressively, post-Grant's Pass, spark debate

• Like SF, Fresno County ramps up remediation of inhumane homeless encampments

• Bakersfield joins the ranks of CA cities ramping up homeless amelioration

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