New homeless cleanup crew starts work in Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers asked for it last fall, and this spring he has it — a bigger crew to clean numerous homeless camps throughout the city.

The city’s neighborhood services department has hired three people, bringing the total crew to nine.

“They’ll work together as a group or in two teams, depending on how many camps there are,” said Mitch Hammes, the department’s director.

With the additional staff, Hammes said a camp can be cleaned within 24 hours after it’s reported.

“It’s hard to tell whether the number of camps is increasing, or we’re seeing more because we have more people cleaning them,” he said. “But I think we’re making a dent.”

Willis Wilhoit, a property owner along Academy Boulevard, said he’s glad to hear that there are more resources for cleaning camps.

“I have to clean trash and feces from around my building at least twice a week,” he said. “I understand that some of the homeless need help. But the mess they leave lowers my property value.”

In a related development, Hammes said his department this year began counting the number of shopping carts taken from stores and abandoned at campsites and other locations.

“We have 506 so far this year,” he said. “That seems to be more than we usually find.”

Hammes said most of the carts are returned to stores, and the rest are recycled.

Getting the City Council to pass an ordinance placing tougher penalties on shopping cart thieves may not work, he said, because stores rarely press charges.

“But if someone wants more enforcement, I’m in favor of it,” Hammes said.