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JSO starts enforcing overnight sleeping ban in public spaces

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – When a new state law banning overnight sleeping or camping in public places without a permit took effect last month, Jacksonville police did not immediately enforce it.

Instead, officers merely issued written and verbal warnings. But now that a month has passed, officers have begun clamping the cuffs on violators.

The new law mainly affects people living on the streets.

News4JAX spoke with several people who don’t have a home who said they have already been warned by patrol officers of what would happen if they were caught violating the law. They said the warnings were both verbal and written.

RELATED: Florida enacts tough law to get homeless off the streets, leaving cities and counties scrambling

“If I catch you again, you could be arrested,” said William Anderson, who spoke about the warning he said he received last month.

“I have been warned twice from certain areas,” John Jones said.

According to recent arrest reports, multiple people living on the streets who have received warnings about overnight camping in public places without a permit or who have been previously trespassed from private property for illegal camping have been arrested.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said since Nov. 1, 16 physical arrests have been made and and nine Notice To Appear have been issued since.

The reports state those who were arrested continued to camp overnight despite the warnings.

Since city shelters are full, people without homes will have to find ways to avoid run-ins with the police.

“Well, I go to different places. I don’t stay in the same place or anything for them to bother me,” Harold Williams said.

MORE: ICARE aims to tackle homelessness as next city problem after Jacksonville sees decrease in murders | JFRD gearing up to help enforce state law banning outdoor sleeping

“All you have to do now is duck and hide and try to stay out of trouble and hopefully, they won’t run into,” Jones said.

It becomes an even bigger problem for people arriving in Jacksonville on the Greyhound bus from other states who have no idea that they can’t legally sleep on the streets overnight.

“I talked to two guys and a girl this morning. They don’t have anything. They just got here from Virginia, and I said look, it’s a law and they said what do we do? The shelters are full. I said I don’t know what you are supposed to do,” Etal Presley told News4JAX.

During a Jacksonville City Council meeting, a bill will be introduced to allocate $1.3 million to expand bed capacity at three of the city’s shelters to help comply with the new Florida law.


About the Author
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Award-winning broadcast and multimedia journalist with 20 years experience.

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