WEBVTT - Miniature Ethnic Cleansing: Encampment Sweeps in Oakland 0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:02.880 Calls media. 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:09.160 Welcome to it happened here a podcast about bad things. 0:00:09.880 --> 0:00:13.200 Usually I don't know, this is mostly a bad things episode. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:16.200 I am your host, Miya Wong. And one of the 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:18.040 kind of things we've emphasized on the show a lot 0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:20.799 is that a lot of the structure of the kind 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:23.640 of open fascism that we're seeing now is stuff that 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:28.320 was put in place under liberal administrations, and it's practices 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:30.920 that are carried out by Democrats, and one of the 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:33.159 biggest ones of those and this is something that I 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:35.080 think you can trace the violence here and you can 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:38.080 trace the politics that it inspired directly to how we 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:42.479 got to Trump being in power. Is the just continuous 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:46.400 crisis in the US of governments doing sweeps of encampments 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:50.559 of unhoused people. And to talk about really one of 0:00:50.560 --> 0:00:53.400 the most horrifying things that happens regularly in a country 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:57.360 of just unhinged and hideous horror is Emma, who does 0:00:57.440 --> 0:00:59.880 advocacy work for on house and disabled people. And I'll 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:03.640 to County and Satia, who does support dream sweeps in 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:07.600 Oakland when yeah, this fucking hintshit happens. So both of 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:08.640 you two, welcome to the show. 0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:13.640 Thanks for having us. Yeah, thank you, appreciate the chance 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:16.000 to talk with you. Yeah. 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:18.320 I always want to say that I'm excited and like 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:21.800 it is true. However, I wish I ran a podcast 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:24.280 that was about like good things, so that way I 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:26.399 could talk to people. It wasn't like, it wasn't me 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:27.960 being like, yeah, I'm excited to talk about like the 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:31.880 worst thing that happened. So I think a place to 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:35.679 start on this is when we talk about what a 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:39.240 sweep actually is on a physical level of what happens, 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:43.360 because I think people really don't have a sense of that. 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:47.400 Yeah, yeah, I think softya, maybe you want to take 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:47.880 this one. 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:51.760 Yeah, I'm happy to take this one. Yeah, thank you. 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:54.120 I feel like, first of all, before I even go 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:56.440 into it, yes, I think a lot of people who 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:59.320 have never experienced a sweep or don't have loved ones 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:01.480 who have been sweat I think a lot of people 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:04.240 have no idea what a sweep actually consists of, even 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:06.400 if in a general sense they feel that it's a 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:09.560 bad thing or a wrong thing. And I think part 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:14.079 of that is deliberate. Sweeps usually happen during business hours, 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:16.880 during nine to five hours, because at least in Oakland, 0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:20.640 they're conducted by the Department of Public Works. They're city employees. 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:23.359 They work nine to five, so accept in cases where 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:27.320 they work over time or when the city uses loopholes 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:30.160 to get around posting notice and ends up doing a 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:33.280 sleep on the weekend. They're usually happening when a lot 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:36.320 of middle class housed folks are at work and not 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:40.720 out and about seeing what's going on. So a sweep, 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:44.320 and I'm primarily talking in the context of Oakland, California, 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:47.680 but I think it's safe to assume that these operate 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:50.840 in similar ways around the country. Generally, what will happen 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:54.079 is you, let's say you're living in an encampment. A 0:02:54.160 --> 0:02:57.680 sweep has been posted. In Oakland, there is policy that 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:01.600 states that you're supposed to have received at least week's notice. However, 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:03.400 a lot of people don't receive this notice, so you 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:05.760 might not even know that it's happening. You might wake 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:08.960 up at around nine am to a bunch of heavy 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:13.560 machinery pulling up dump truck, small bulldozers, other types of 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:17.560 sort of like heavy equipment, and then you'll have somebody 0:03:17.600 --> 0:03:22.360 from the city administration, like a city administrator's assistant, going 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:25.360 around announcing that the city of Oakland is there, you know, 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:28.760 making noise that your tent or your car or wherever 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:32.440 you're staying, saying, hey, this encampment is being closed down. 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:34.760 You have to be out of here. There usually are 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:40.320 representatives of the city's contracted outreach organization called Operation Dignity. 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:43.480 They're supposed to be there. Very rarely do they actually 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:46.520 have referral for somewhere to go. They'll basically just be like, hey, 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:49.120 do you want services. They won't usually specify what the 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:51.400 services are. They'll just show up and be like, hey, 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:54.800 do you want services. If you say yes or have 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:58.320 questions about what services are available, they may give you 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:03.280 a sort of very rundown of whatever might be available 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:06.680 that day, because they don't usually even find out what 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:10.400 openings are available until ten am on any given day, 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:12.280 so at the time that they roll up, they usually 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:15.320 don't even know what's available yet. So it kind of 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:18.479 progresses from there. I mean, every sweep is a little different, 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:20.800 but the commonality between all of them is that what 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:23.120 the city is there to do is essentially to erase 0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:26.800 all signed that anybody ever lived there. So either you 0:04:27.520 --> 0:04:31.039 are able to pack as much stuff as you can 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:33.120 and get it out of the eviction zone before the 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:35.680 city decides that it's your turn to be targeted or 0:04:35.800 --> 0:04:37.359 all of your stuff ends up in the back of 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:41.359 a dump truck. There are other sort of specific pieces 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:44.360 of policy and operational things that can vary from time 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:47.800 to time, like, for example, they're supposed to follow a 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:50.760 bag and tag policy, which means that they're expected to 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:54.520 store up to a cubic yard of somebody's belongings for 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:58.240 ninety days at a storage location in East Oakland. They 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:01.440 rarely do this unless how to do so, and most 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:04.279 of the time, the actual process of going back and 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:08.000 reclaiming your belongings from that location has enough barriers that 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:09.840 almost nobody ever manages to do it. 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:10.479 Yeah. 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:12.359 So, so to just make this clear, the thing that 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:14.119 they're doing is they show up and that they fucking 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:15.080 destroil your property. 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:15.360 Yep. 0:05:16.400 --> 0:05:19.440 Like the thing that it most closely resembles is like 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:23.280 we're doing our own miniature ethnic cleansings. Like that's just 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:24.720 like what that is. 0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:31.080 Ye, yes, And every suite there are at least several 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:34.680 police you know, depending on the size of the suite, 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:38.800 that can be even more. And so there is a 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:43.960 very real threat of police violence, like underlying every single 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:49.160 encampment suite and so the suite that Oakland this week. 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:53.880 Practices that Oakland has set up are like very kind 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:58.520 of odd, and they are associated with different like lawsuits 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:01.720 that have occurred and the past couple of actually since 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:06.359 the seventies. But so there are certain requirements that the 0:06:06.400 --> 0:06:11.520 City of Oakland is obligated to follow in like certain 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:17.680 provisions and offers that like homeless people are technically supposed 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:21.200 to be receiving and for a bunch of complicated reasons, 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:24.560 like rarely ever are so for instance, like the bag 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:29.719 and tag policy that Satya was just discussing, like they've 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:34.600 recently somebody did a PRA request to see whether or 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:40.040 not to city was actually following faithfully following that policy. 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:44.200 And I think in like over a year there were 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:48.800 I believe eight bagging tags that were registered in the 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:54.560 city system. And that was in that same period there 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:58.720 were like well over one hundred sweeps. You know, I 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:03.240 Jesus don't have the exact number on me, but are yeah, 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:09.240 actually five hundred and thirty seven closure two instances of 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:15.000 storing property. So you know that's people's their whole lives, 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:20.440 all their possessions, like precious items that they they're able 0:07:20.480 --> 0:07:23.880 to hang on to are just yeah, destroyed and they 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:25.160 never see them again. 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:28.920 And I would also add to the piece around like 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:32.520 the quote like offer of services, Like that's also something 0:07:32.560 --> 0:07:35.760 written into their policy that they're supposed to be connecting 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:38.680 people to housing ahead of sweeps, and that's what they 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:42.000 use to continually justify the way that they operate. Is 0:07:42.040 --> 0:07:45.800 that in for example, city council meetings and Homelessness Commission 0:07:45.800 --> 0:07:50.720 meetings where city admin is questioned on their procedures because 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:54.120 they get complaints, like the Homeless Commission gets complaints constantly 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:57.679 of people being mistreated, losing all their belongings, never getting 0:07:57.720 --> 0:08:00.960 referred to housing, and so forth. And the justification that's 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:04.160 constantly used is like, well, we're offering people services every time, 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:06.400 and they just refuse them. And I think that that 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:10.840 is pretty much the number one mythology that is continuing 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:14.880 to spur a lot of the like pro sweep discourse 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:17.480 in Oakland specifically, and I'm sure in other parts of 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:20.280 the country as well. And people are not, like to 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:24.480 be clear, most of the time, people are not actually 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:25.720 being offered services. 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:27.840 It's just not happening. 0:08:28.560 --> 0:08:31.560 Yeah, this is a national discourse he chose ault. I mean, 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:32.960 you know, I think a lot of it kind of 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:35.839 is concentrated in the most unhinged, like tech sectors in 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:39.240 the Bay. But like you hear, like officially Elon Musk 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:41.360 has talked about like, oh, there's like there's like a 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:44.559 homeless industrial complex, and like all of these people are 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:46.840 just like they want to live on the street, and 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:49.120 like they they're like turning down houses all the time, 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:53.200 and it's just like it's so it's so completely unmoored 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:53.920 from reality. 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:57.920 But what's funny is I've actually used the term homeless 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:01.960 industrial complex myself. I didn't know that there is that's hilarious. 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:05.200 There is a homeless Yeah, it's just that the people 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:07.400 making money off of it are the people who are 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:11.080 perpetrating the sweeps. The reason that they're not actually putting 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:14.240 forth real solutions that will get people into safe shelter 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:17.640 and housing is because they're the ones benefiting from the 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.080 perpetuation of these economic conditions. 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:23.559 Yeah, there's so many things that I want to pick 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:27.080 up on, but I guess just on that point specifically, 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:33.240 Like there was an audit into California spending on homelessness. 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:36.600 I believe it was over a period of seven years, 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:41.040 and it showed that there was twenty four billion dollars 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:47.720 spent on grants to nonprofits or cities to provide people 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:52.560 with different services that are kind of designed around homelessness 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:57.640 and providing housing or legal services. Like there's a whole 0:09:57.760 --> 0:10:01.199 range of things that's out there, but a lot of 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:04.400 the time like these are the only options that are 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:10.440 available to people, and they tend to produce less than 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:15.200 stellar results. So, out of the twenty four billion dollars 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:20.240 that was allocated to help homeless people in that same 0:10:20.280 --> 0:10:24.920 period of time, homelessness in California just like skyrocketed, right, 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:29.280 So rates of homelessness increased while this money was getting 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:32.880 plumped into the pockets of the bank accounts of like 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:37.800 landlords and developers. It is an issue that people on 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:42.760 every side of the political compass like they like to 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:48.160 use this point to their own ends, right, So Elon 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:51.760 Musk talks about it, and like people on the left 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:56.319 will talk about it. But I think, like the experience 0:10:56.480 --> 0:11:00.240 that people on the street have is very different than 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:03.640 any of these narratives that you tend to hear in 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:04.240 the media. 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:08.439 Yes, unfortunately, we need to take an ad break. I 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:11.640 don't have a good transition here. I don't know, We'll 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:13.360 move of one set of horrors to a slightly different 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:14.960 set of horrors and go back to the first set 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:21.360 of horrors. 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:29.760 All of this money is being dedicated to these programs, 0:11:29.840 --> 0:11:34.720 and homelessness is only rising. I think, like one thing 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:38.520 that I've heard before that's a kind of useful way 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:42.199 to think about this kind of government spending is if 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:44.480 homeless people would be better off if you'd just gave 0:11:44.600 --> 0:11:48.719 them the money directly, you know, then that kind of way, 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:53.480 it's really hard to justify these programs when that can't 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:54.960 be said of them, you know. 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:57.840 And I think the thing that you pointed out, Emma, 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:00.640 about the fact that we have huge amounts of money 0:12:00.960 --> 0:12:05.000 allegedly being spent on my homelessness abatement or homeless services 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:07.760 at the same time that homelessness is skyrocketing is really 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.160 not an accident, because what that money is really being 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:13.000 spent on is to fuel exactly what is it, like, 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:16.000 the homeless industrial complex. There's a reason that most of 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:18.240 that money is going into the pockets of landlords and 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:21.600 developers and then sort of like these sort of large 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:26.360 like nonprofit almost like conglomerates of like service providers. And 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:29.640 it's because the primary point of homelessness services as it 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:33.880 exists in this country is not to get homeless people 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:38.480 into housing. It's to line the pockets of the people 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:41.040 that are making the most money off of the real 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:45.320 estate market anyway. And so because of that, it is 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:49.560 not an accident that you see homeless spending and homelessness 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:52.640 like escalating at the same time. It's because this is 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:56.120 the feedback loop, Like, this is the way that our 0:12:56.559 --> 0:13:00.360 you know, economic priorities in this country are structured, are 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:02.840 such that those two things are going to feed into 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:07.040 each other because that money doesn't actually exist to serve 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:09.480 the populations that they say that they're using it to serve. 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:12.120 What they do get to do is by claiming that 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:16.520 that money is going into homelessness abatement, when clearly it isn't. 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:18.640 They then get to spind a narrative where they say, oh, 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:21.080 we've spent all this money, but the problem is just 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:23.840 getting worse. That must mean that it is the fault 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:26.680 of unhoused people and that they're choosing this because clearly 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:29.040 the services must exist to get them off the street. 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:31.000 In reality, that's not the case. At all. 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:35.360 Yeah. I think also it's super important for people to 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:40.800 understand that these programs, housing programs, shelter programs, they are 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:47.120 out there, but they are decoupled from the sweep operations 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:51.480 that are occurring. Right So, the City of Oakland, they 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:57.520 are contracted with the nonprofit Softia mentioned earlier called Operation Dignity, 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:04.600 and they are required to check in with different encampments 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:08.160 that are scheduled to be closed at least a week 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:13.960 before the suite and the purpose of that is to 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:18.000 notify people that it's happening. The City of Oakland is 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:23.120 required for the terms of this lawsuit back in I 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:27.760 believe twenty nineteen, the Moralees lawsuit, and there was a 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:32.080 settlement that resulted in the city being required to provide 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:36.240 clear notices whenever they're going to close like a site. 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:41.120 So yeah, this nonprofit providers was to like notify people 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:45.640 and try to get them connected with services. However, the 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:50.400 services for the most part, like housing for people who 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:56.080 are unhoused, is largely funded through the federal government and 0:14:56.480 --> 0:15:03.480 through this very complex and inaccessible system called coordinated Entry. 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:09.480 The coordinated Entry system is not something that the City 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:14.720 of Oakland or Operation dignity like that is not something 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:19.920 that they're providing people with during the suitep. So when 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:24.200 the City of Oakland, like for instance, and one of 0:15:24.240 --> 0:15:30.600 the commissions on Homelessness meetings, the city administrator Harold Duffy, 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:37.360 he presented actually in response to a question about somebody's 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:43.560 wheelchair being destroyed by public works. Yeah, he gave this 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:50.200 really like roundabout deflecting answer where he said basically that 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:55.760 everyone who is at an encampment at the time of 0:15:55.800 --> 0:16:02.200 the sweep has like expressly refused services like shelter or 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:06.600 housing or whatever, and that they kind of presumes that 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:11.520 the city actually has opportunities that they can provide people with, 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:16.640 which is just not the case. The Coordinated Entry System, 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:21.040 it is a program that is first of all, like 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:26.000 only people who are disabled can get what's called permanent 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:29.720 supportive housing through the program. But also it is in 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:33.840 such high demand and is so inadequate to the needs 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:38.640 that Alameda County is currently like the situation that we're 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:43.800 in that the wait list is like thousands of people long, 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:48.000 and it can take well over a year before someone 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:52.840 can get housing through that system. So it's just like 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:57.040 it's not true they do offer people what are called 0:16:57.080 --> 0:17:02.480 community cabins, which are tough sheds. They're not even offering 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:05.359 people that they're full the full. Yeah, that's what they say. 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:07.760 They offer. Sorry, I had me to cut you off. 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:11.160 I feel strongly about this, So I think it's also 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:14.000 where things like in terms of I feel like that's 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:17.840 a really a really useful layout, Emma, in terms of 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:20.280 like the way that the system is actually structured for 0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:23.080 people not to be able to access services, I feel 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:28.000 like it's also worth pointing out that just day to 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:29.760 day on the ground, I feel like I feel like 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:31.000 I get to see a lot of sort of like 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:33.480 minute details and changes in the way that they're operating 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:37.639 in response to what they're like internal systems actually look like. 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:40.920 And what we have seen over the last six months 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:44.480 to a year is not only this pattern that e'm 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:48.120 I was talking about of like they're like people are 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:51.520 consistently not getting connected with services and then being accused 0:17:51.560 --> 0:17:54.240 of refusing services just due to the conditions that they're 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:58.760 living under, but also everything that Oakland has and that 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:04.600 approaches like livable transitional housing, which is kind of laughable 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:06.359 in this case because we can also go into the 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:09.720 conditions of the transitional housing programs and shelters in Oakland 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:12.359 which are abysmal, but everything that they have that approaches 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:15.439 livable transitional housing is full. 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:16.840 I very rarely. 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:19.399 Every few weeks, maybe I see one or two people 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:23.440 get referred to one of those programs, and far more 0:18:23.440 --> 0:18:25.359 often I'll be in a situation. For example, I was 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:28.440 at a sweep over near twenty third and Northgate a 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:31.000 couple of weeks ago, and I was there when Operation 0:18:31.119 --> 0:18:33.040 Dignity rolled up and I heard what they were saying 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:34.840 when they were talking to people, and this one dude 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:37.800 was going around talking to folks and he kind of 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:41.360 he wasn't even approaching talking about services. He was approaching 0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:42.720 being like, Hey, I'm just here to let you know 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:44.399 that this area is going to be closed down, Like 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:46.680 there's a sweep that's going to be happening, so you 0:18:46.760 --> 0:18:48.080 guys have to be out of here. So that was 0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:50.560 what they led with. And then I prompted him because 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:52.000 I was there chatting with one of the guys that 0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:53.920 he was talking to, so I prompted him. I was like, 0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:56.399 do you have any services to offer? And then he 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:59.320 was like, oh, you can go over to Saint Vincent 0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:02.600 de Paul, which is conger Get shelter in West Oakland 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:06.920 with about forty beds, and nobody is guaranteed a spot, 0:19:07.040 --> 0:19:08.600 is just a room full of cots. A lot of 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:11.280 people refuse to go there because the conditions are so 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:13.520 terrible and they don't feel comfortable or safe sleeping in 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:15.720 a room full of a bunch of strangers with no 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:18.440 kind of security, no guarantee of being able to hold 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:20.800 onto their stuff. People are only allowed to bring in 0:19:21.000 --> 0:19:23.480 like a backpack sort of stuff, I'm pretty sure. And 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:25.720 you also have to it's first come, first service. You 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:27.399 have to line up outside every single day, and you 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:30.280 are not guaranteed an indoor place to sleep even if 0:19:30.280 --> 0:19:33.359 you line up outside. So what we have is a 0:19:33.440 --> 0:19:37.360 situation where the availability of services varies from day to day. 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:41.320 I cannot think of a single sweep in the last 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:43.560 year that I have been to, and I'm at usually 0:19:43.680 --> 0:19:48.879 multiple sleeps a week where there were enough guaranteed spots 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:52.440 available for every person being swept. So the implicit assumption 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:54.840 at every single sweep and the Operation Dignity people know 0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:57.480 this too, like they know this, the implicit assumption when 0:19:57.480 --> 0:20:00.359 they roll up, and the assumption that colors even the 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:02.800 tenor of all of their conversations that they're having with 0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:05.520 people is that the majority of people are just going 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:06.840 to have to figure out how to pack their shit 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:09.520 up and find another place to camp. It's the assumption, 0:20:10.119 --> 0:20:13.320 and it's gotten to the point where, like od employees 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:15.000 will roll up and like I said, they won't even 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:18.399 necessarily lead with an offer of services. They'll lead almost 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:20.560 in the hopes that the majority of people already have 0:20:20.600 --> 0:20:22.280 a place to relocate. They'll ask do you have a 0:20:22.320 --> 0:20:25.399 place to go? Before they offer services, or ask if 0:20:25.400 --> 0:20:27.520 people are entered as services, they'll they'll ask, like, do 0:20:27.560 --> 0:20:29.480 you have another spot to move this stuff first? Because 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:32.160 what they're hoping to do is eliminate as many people 0:20:32.200 --> 0:20:34.200 as possible from their list of people that they feel 0:20:34.200 --> 0:20:36.640 obligated to offer services to because they know they don't 0:20:36.720 --> 0:20:37.560 fucking have anything. 0:20:38.119 --> 0:20:42.920 Yeah, I think it's super important to just emphasize that point. 0:20:43.400 --> 0:20:48.400 The city is telling the media. They're telling like businesses, 0:20:49.080 --> 0:20:53.280 anyone that comes to them with problems related to like 0:20:53.880 --> 0:20:58.680 helplessness or concerns, they're telling them that everyone is being 0:20:58.800 --> 0:21:03.399 offered shelter and housing and it's just not true and 0:21:03.880 --> 0:21:08.160 that is reflective in the city's own publicly available data, 0:21:09.119 --> 0:21:13.000 so they actually publish like a list of all of 0:21:13.359 --> 0:21:18.159 the encampment suites that they do throughout the year, and 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:23.680 in the Commission on Homelessness meetings, will report back to 0:21:23.840 --> 0:21:28.000 the Commission about like service enrollment that they've done through 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:32.879 a certain period of time, and like from May to 0:21:33.080 --> 0:21:38.679 September they had enrolled I believe it was sixty people 0:21:39.080 --> 0:21:44.680 and to services like non specified services. And during that 0:21:44.880 --> 0:21:51.080 period there was approximately eighty sweeps. And if you assume 0:21:51.200 --> 0:21:55.280 there's at least five to ten people at every encampment 0:21:55.520 --> 0:21:59.480 when they do a sweep, and usually it's more that 0:21:59.880 --> 0:22:04.439 is like nine percent four point five percent of people 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:10.359 like getting enrolled into into services, and like of those 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:16.280 maybe a smaller traction getting into shelter. And when they 0:22:16.400 --> 0:22:21.520 get into shelter, they just languish there, right, they aren't 0:22:21.760 --> 0:22:26.840 connected with case workers who help them get through this 0:22:27.080 --> 0:22:33.480 really convoluted coordinated entry process and like lengthy coordinated entry process, 0:22:34.000 --> 0:22:37.360 and so within a few months they're just right back 0:22:37.680 --> 0:22:43.280 on the street. You know, it's just ridiculous. And unfortunately, 0:22:43.440 --> 0:22:47.920 because homeless people have very little like I guess you 0:22:47.960 --> 0:22:51.239 could call it social capital, you know, the city can 0:22:51.320 --> 0:22:54.440 get away with a lot of this stuff they do, 0:22:54.680 --> 0:22:59.760 like blatantly illegal things that are against even their own policies, 0:23:00.680 --> 0:23:04.639 and nothing happens. And I guess like maybe we should 0:23:04.680 --> 0:23:09.160 back up a little bit and discuss the city's policy. 0:23:10.080 --> 0:23:12.280 It's from second at break and then we will come 0:23:12.359 --> 0:23:18.400 back more ads. I don't know by them question mark. 0:23:28.920 --> 0:23:29.600 We are back. 0:23:30.560 --> 0:23:33.200 Yeah, so yeah, let's talk about I think what the 0:23:33.280 --> 0:23:36.120 city's policies are supposed to be versus like what they're 0:23:36.160 --> 0:23:37.679 actually doing on the ground. 0:23:38.320 --> 0:23:41.199 Yeah. I mean, their policy is their cover your ass technique, right, 0:23:41.280 --> 0:23:44.199 Their policy is what they refer back to whenever they 0:23:44.280 --> 0:23:48.320 want to sort of like like Emma said, if they're 0:23:49.000 --> 0:23:53.600 interfacing with businesses or house people, you know, and we 0:23:53.680 --> 0:23:56.440 have a whole range of house people calling free one one, 0:23:56.480 --> 0:23:58.320 which is basically their tip line for like go you 0:23:58.400 --> 0:23:59.960 see a homeless person, you don't want to be seen. 0:24:00.800 --> 0:24:02.280 But there's all a range of people. There's people that 0:24:02.320 --> 0:24:05.720 are actively malicious and violent, and there's literally people going 0:24:05.760 --> 0:24:09.000