Gilroy Police Chief Denise Turner is gathering data on the impact of homelessness in Gilroy and will take the findings to City Council later this month in hopes City staff will craft a policy that helps address the issue.
Turner confirmed that she is taking part in a citywide departmental staff meeting April 23 that will give City Council a clear picture of how Gilroy’s increasing homeless and transient population is impacting City resources.
At the moment, Turner explained, she only has GPD’s perspective on the matter – but it’s enough for her to realize the problem needs a collaborative solution.
“We receive five to eight calls a day,” Turner said, during last month’s Gilroy Downtown Business Association monthly meeting, where she talked about how much time GPD spends on dealing with calls, crimes and arrests related to transient or homeless individuals. “It’s monopolizing GPD’s resources.”
Turner is also specifically concerned about the increasing amounts of transients turning up on the streets of Gilroy. These transients are different, Turner reasons, than other members of Gilroy’s homeless population who generally don’t cause problems. Whatever the reason for the influx, the chief is unhappy with the progress being made in determining how to handle the situation.
“Either we roll out the welcome mat and provide services in a specific location, or we say, ‘Hey, we’re not a one-stop city, go to San Jose where they are funded and equipped,’” she asserted.
Having to deal with an increasing number of transients is also “staff-intensive and dangerous,” Turner said. “Many are mentally ill.”
There have been stories circulating in Gilroy that an increasing number of transients now see the city as a soft touch because of its various available outreach programs. This includes the Gilroy Compassion Center, St. Joseph’s Family Center (which is the second largest provider of services to the poor in South County, after the government) and the National Guard Armory, explained Turner to GDBA board members.
She added that GPD has “an individual on tape telling us this.”
When asked about how the transients are making their way to Gilroy, Turner admitted that GPD isn’t entirely sure.
“We’ve heard that some are being driven here,” she said. “We also heard that some use tokens and take the bus from San Jose.”
GPD even asked the San Jose Emergency Housing Consortium if it is bringing overflow people down to Gilroy, but the organization denied that rumor, Turner said.
