Arvada police help clean up homeless camp along Clear Creek
A trail just outside of Arvada was a favorite for Ed Tombs and his wife.
"It's one of our joys now that we are both retired to ride our bikes along the creek," he said.
Tombs says after homeless camps started popping up along their route, and a threat by one of the people living there, that's no longer the case.
"My wife's afraid to go down there now," he said.
That kind of safety concern about the Clear Creek area near Gold Strike Park prompted Arvada police to step in, despite the area, which runs along I-76 and Sheridan Boulevard, being outside of their jurisdiction.
"We've been working with CDOT quite frequently on cleaning these areas up and the city is actually in many cases picking up the tab or the bill to clean these up," Detective David Snelling said.
Snelling is the public information officer for the Arvada Police Department he says having cleared enough trash and other waste to fill four roll-off dumpsters, the total cost was roughly $16,000.
"It's really it's not healthy for individuals to be living in that environment and it's not healthy for individuals to be living around that environment," he said.
Devon, who is currently living on the streets, says it's not always a choice- his trouble started after losing his apartment.
"I wore clean clothes, did things everybody else does. You couldn't not pick me out from somebody who works at CBS4," he said.
But "sweeps" he says, are not a solution.
"We can't not exist, so when that happens all it's doing is pushing an issue out of the way."
Karen Cowling with Mission Arvada says there's more to it, including building up much-needed support services.
"We need more mental health support, we need more rehab, we need more court-mandated rehabs, mental health programs," she said.
She says it's about working with police on the bigger issues.
"We have a broken system," she said.
Both agree changes need to be made on a much larger scale.
"This is a state issue that we would love to see addressed, because being homeless isn't a police problem, having a mental illness isn't a police problem, but who do you call when you don't know who else to call?" Snelling said.
The Arvada Police Department has a team of officers known as the CORE team, Community Outreach and Engagement, that respond to the majority of calls for service related to the homeless in the area and work first to connect those they encounter with services, before issuing any citations.
Those in the encampment were given three weeks' notice ahead of the cleanup.
