Greensweep -- I Was There
Greensweep — I Was There
By Bennet Tanner
The headlines of the day suggested that a woman was raped by homeless campers! This was the pretext that Jackson County Sheriff Mike winters gave for launching the Greenway Sweep operations of Spring 2005. Hunt down those homeless criminal campers and make the greenway safe. Besides, the greenways were filled with obscenely dirty and messy campers.
The news media made sure to take pictures of the worst camps, but took none of the clean and spotless camps. It took interviews with the homeless who were dysfunctional but little or none of working or contributing members of our community. This biased, one-sided reporting painted a black and white picture that made this operation seem necessary for the welfare of our community. Day after day helicopters were flying regular routes back and forth with high beam spotlights. Their favorite hours often were 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning, keeping many in their private homes, apartments, and trailers awake at night. This high level of intensity went on for 3 weeks, with helicopters and sheriff vehicles, and subsided later. The entire Greensweep Operation went on for months.
Ahh, these homeless campers were perfect guinea pigs for sheriff training, as well as the perfect outlet for personal frustration for citizens who complained about these campers. Campers had their dogs impounded and someone even had their dog killed. One individual in a sleeping bag awoke to guns pointed at his head. People had their camping gear, clothes, personal mementos, and mail thrown out. Campers fled to downtown Ashland only to be harassed by the police for sleeping in all sorts of places after being displaced. I myself, after waking up on the first day of the operation found sheriff cars and golf cart-type vehicles shuttling officers on the greenway as I was walking there. They were just getting started and didn't bother me even though I was looking like one of those outdoor campers. I thought it wiser at that point to just leave my campsite, even though I still had clothes and gear there. I didn't want any encounters with them. I came back later that day to find my tent dismantled and personal belongings gone through.
A fellow camper told me the sheriff said all campers needed to vacate by the morning as they were going to bulldoze and take everything away. Anyone still there would be arrested. I left that morning, but my fellow camper, an ex-Navy SEAL, was arrested and said his wedding ring, watch, and vietnam War memento were taken in the process. He'd been in jail somewhere between 5-10 days as best I recollect. His irreplaceable personal itemS still hadn't been recovered 6 weeks later, the last I spoke with him. In another instance, a friend who lived at Jackson Wellsprings was just taking a walk on the greenway and stopped to watch 2 officers dismantle someone's tent. suddenly the 2 caught sight of my friend and charged and wrestled him to the ground. While holding him he managed to tell them who he was and eventually they let him go. I myself was moving my camp every 5 days or so for about 2 weeks, till I got ill from this. Fortunately a friend with a home provided me a sanctuary for the next few months.
The news media and authorities painted a picture of homeless campers being involved in the rape. In reality, the person charged with the crime was not homeless. Removing litter and curtailing the homeless campers were the reasons cited for the operations last spring. A year later, the litter that had been left by fleeing campers has not been cleaned up. ApparentlY they just wanted to get rid of the people. However many of the homeless campers from last year, and the year before, are still here and camping in the same locations or close by.
How much was spent on helicopters? pilots, fuel, maintenance, and overtime pay? How about the extra officers and their salaries for this operation? What was the cost of the weeding equipment and crews? How much was spent on jailing inmates, processing, and administration? Oh those homeless criminals are costly! Is this sort of military response just pretending to do something useful for local citizens while really just spending obscene amounts of money to harass our most disenfranchised population?
Would it be wiser to spend money constructively, creating opportunities for people to improve their situations, jobs for the homeless, providing legal camping, and creating public work projects that the community could use permanently? This is not just for public officials to decide, this is a reality that everyone must work together to address creatively.
Our public officials have been influenced predominantly by citizens who don't want to question or challenge the traditional approach of criminalizing and marginalizing homeless people. Let our new Mayor, police Chief, and City Council people hear from constituents who want to use taxpayer money and law enforcement for better uses. Ask your minister, rabbi, and lama to get informed and to take a stand with their respective congregations. Think about what we can do together as a community.
Last year the pretext for launching this operation was the rape of a teenager by someone who doesn't even live outdoors. This year I'm hearing the reason for the springtime operation is to protect the tourist industry! They harass, ticket, and jail homeless citizens supposedly to protect economic interests. The homeless are permanent members of our community, whether we like it or not. Let's stop wasting money trying to push them out, and instead let's accept that they have a right to live with dignity.
By Bennet Tanner
The headlines of the day suggested that a woman was raped by homeless campers! This was the pretext that Jackson County Sheriff Mike winters gave for launching the Greenway Sweep operations of Spring 2005. Hunt down those homeless criminal campers and make the greenway safe. Besides, the greenways were filled with obscenely dirty and messy campers.
The news media made sure to take pictures of the worst camps, but took none of the clean and spotless camps. It took interviews with the homeless who were dysfunctional but little or none of working or contributing members of our community. This biased, one-sided reporting painted a black and white picture that made this operation seem necessary for the welfare of our community. Day after day helicopters were flying regular routes back and forth with high beam spotlights. Their favorite hours often were 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning, keeping many in their private homes, apartments, and trailers awake at night. This high level of intensity went on for 3 weeks, with helicopters and sheriff vehicles, and subsided later. The entire Greensweep Operation went on for months.
Ahh, these homeless campers were perfect guinea pigs for sheriff training, as well as the perfect outlet for personal frustration for citizens who complained about these campers. Campers had their dogs impounded and someone even had their dog killed. One individual in a sleeping bag awoke to guns pointed at his head. People had their camping gear, clothes, personal mementos, and mail thrown out. Campers fled to downtown Ashland only to be harassed by the police for sleeping in all sorts of places after being displaced. I myself, after waking up on the first day of the operation found sheriff cars and golf cart-type vehicles shuttling officers on the greenway as I was walking there. They were just getting started and didn't bother me even though I was looking like one of those outdoor campers. I thought it wiser at that point to just leave my campsite, even though I still had clothes and gear there. I didn't want any encounters with them. I came back later that day to find my tent dismantled and personal belongings gone through.
A fellow camper told me the sheriff said all campers needed to vacate by the morning as they were going to bulldoze and take everything away. Anyone still there would be arrested. I left that morning, but my fellow camper, an ex-Navy SEAL, was arrested and said his wedding ring, watch, and vietnam War memento were taken in the process. He'd been in jail somewhere between 5-10 days as best I recollect. His irreplaceable personal itemS still hadn't been recovered 6 weeks later, the last I spoke with him. In another instance, a friend who lived at Jackson Wellsprings was just taking a walk on the greenway and stopped to watch 2 officers dismantle someone's tent. suddenly the 2 caught sight of my friend and charged and wrestled him to the ground. While holding him he managed to tell them who he was and eventually they let him go. I myself was moving my camp every 5 days or so for about 2 weeks, till I got ill from this. Fortunately a friend with a home provided me a sanctuary for the next few months.
The news media and authorities painted a picture of homeless campers being involved in the rape. In reality, the person charged with the crime was not homeless. Removing litter and curtailing the homeless campers were the reasons cited for the operations last spring. A year later, the litter that had been left by fleeing campers has not been cleaned up. ApparentlY they just wanted to get rid of the people. However many of the homeless campers from last year, and the year before, are still here and camping in the same locations or close by.
How much was spent on helicopters? pilots, fuel, maintenance, and overtime pay? How about the extra officers and their salaries for this operation? What was the cost of the weeding equipment and crews? How much was spent on jailing inmates, processing, and administration? Oh those homeless criminals are costly! Is this sort of military response just pretending to do something useful for local citizens while really just spending obscene amounts of money to harass our most disenfranchised population?
Would it be wiser to spend money constructively, creating opportunities for people to improve their situations, jobs for the homeless, providing legal camping, and creating public work projects that the community could use permanently? This is not just for public officials to decide, this is a reality that everyone must work together to address creatively.
Our public officials have been influenced predominantly by citizens who don't want to question or challenge the traditional approach of criminalizing and marginalizing homeless people. Let our new Mayor, police Chief, and City Council people hear from constituents who want to use taxpayer money and law enforcement for better uses. Ask your minister, rabbi, and lama to get informed and to take a stand with their respective congregations. Think about what we can do together as a community.
Last year the pretext for launching this operation was the rape of a teenager by someone who doesn't even live outdoors. This year I'm hearing the reason for the springtime operation is to protect the tourist industry! They harass, ticket, and jail homeless citizens supposedly to protect economic interests. The homeless are permanent members of our community, whether we like it or not. Let's stop wasting money trying to push them out, and instead let's accept that they have a right to live with dignity.