Street Enforcement Team Takes Shape During Budget Hearings
Photo: Paula Bard
By Robert Davis
City officials offered new details about Denver’s Street Enforcement Team (SET) during the Department of Public Safety’s budget hearing on September 21.
Officials described SET as an expedient response unit for when Denver residents call 3-1-1 about homeless encampments. SET is also considered part of the Department’s equity lens and provides an “alternate response model for quality-of-life ordinance violations,” according to the DOS budget presentation.
The program will cost the city more than $977,000 through the end of 2021. In 2022, Denver plans to invest more than $2.7 million in the program, which accounts for 58% of the DOS’ projected $4.6 million budget increase. This investment includes hiring six additional SET members and spending more than $420,000 on purchasing vehicles for the team.
It is modeled after other civilian enforcement programs like the Urban Park Rangers and Right-of-Way (ROW) Officers who can write parking tickets. While these teams work set hours, officials said SET will work a staggered schedule that includes nights and weekends.
SET members will also wear uniforms with their name embroidered on them and wear identification lanyards as well. However, they are not subject to Denver’s Independent Monitor statute because they are not sworn, officers. Instead, the DOS will handle any complaints about SET.
“The reason why we do these alternative responses is because we need to have more community engagement,” Director Murphy Robinson said during the hearing. “We need to listen to the community to really foster that ‘open ear’ and have the ability to answer calls for service while making sure we are not putting folks in harm’s way.”
According to a DOS survey of 671 homeless encampments, 77% contained excess trash. Another 300 were considered right-of-way encumbrances. More than two-thirds of the camps, however, did not contain hypodermic needles, human waste, or rodents, the data shows.
Deputy Director Armando Saldate said the Department has tried several means of connecting people experiencing homelessness to services and alternatives to shelter but lamented that “outreach was not enough.”
“Folks are very frustrated,” Saldate said. “They are frustrated at our encampment response because it takes very long to get them resolved. Outreach can take some time, too. And there’s been an increasing number of calls for enforcement.”
Between March and August, Denver’s 3-1-1 line received a total call volume of 11,491 calls regarding homeless encampments, according to the presentation. Over the same period, local 9-1-1 operators fielded more than 6,200 calls about encampments as well.
Saldate added that the “tone” of the phone calls has changed as well. In recent months, he said an increasing number of calls from business and property owners alike have been hysterical.
According to a DOS survey of 671 homeless encampments, 77% of encampments contained excess trash. Another 300 encampments were considered right-of-way encumbrances. More than two-thirds of the camps, however, did not contain hypodermic needles, human waste, or rodents, the data shows.
While some city officials say the need for enforcement is clear, some members of the Denver City Council have expressed concern over whether deputizing citizens to respond to homelessness is the right solution.
Last week during a Safety Committee meeting, Councilwoman Robin Kniech, At-large, said she was concerned about SET members enforcing ordinances for failing to obey a lawful order or providing false information.
“These just don’t feel appropriate for a civilian enforcement team,” Kniech said. “It’s one thing to write a ticket and other to start issuing lawful orders and escalating the situation.”