City Workers, Some Directing Yale Freshmen, Dismantled Homeless Camps

NEW HAVEN, CT —Workers, posting on an unofficial Facebook page, said they removed and dumped tents and other belongings from an encampment of homeless people this week and posted the photos.

A spokesperson for New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said in an emailed statement that the public works Facebook page is "NOT an authorized city Facebook account."

The post reads that the goal was to, "clean and dismantle homeless camps." And it noted that while at a site, state police were there as well and arrested two people who the department claimed had warrants for their arrest.

"Public works crews worked with the state DOT to clean and dismantle homeless camps littered with needles and trash. This presents a danger to anyone walking in our wooded area along the Mill River. We ended up with 2 tractor trailers full of trash. The DOT is clamping down on this. STATE TROOPERS arrested 2 with several warrants!!"

The Yale Daily News reported this week that a group of incoming Yale University first year student volunteers, part of the Focus on New Haven program, were instructed to dump shelters and possessions including tents, tarps, and myriad other belongings.

It's not clear how many students were told to remove people's belongs, but when FOCUS leaders learned what happened, they condemned the action. The Daily News reported that, in that case, students were working with the city's Department of Parks & Trees.

From the Yale Daily News report:

"This sort of violence — ‘cleaning up after the cops’ and theft of unhoused people’s homes and belongings — is antithetical to the values of FOCUS,” program directors Giuliana Duron ’24, Sean Pergola ’24 and Fi Schroth-Douma ’24 wrote in a joint statement to the News. “The fact that FOCUS members were told to participate in this violence speaks to the gap between the ideals we hold and the work we actually do. One thing is clear: FOCUS needs to change.”

Under Connecticut law, is the Homeless Person's Bill of Rights. It holds that:

Each homeless person in this state has the right to:
(1) Move freely in public spaces, including on public sidewalks, in public parks, on public transportation and in public buildings without harassment or intimidation from law enforcement officers in the same manner as other persons;
(2) Have equal opportunities for employment;
(3) Receive emergency medical care;
(4) Register to vote and to vote;
(5) Have personal information protected;
(6) Have a reasonable expectation of privacy in his or her personal property; and
(7) Receive equal treatment by state and municipal agencies.
(c) Each municipality shall conspicuously post in the usual location for municipal notices a notice entitled "HOMELESS PERSON'S BILL OF RIGHTS" that contains the text set forth in subsection (b) of this section. Each municipality shall make copies of such notice available to members of the public upon request.