Residents voice city frustrations directly to Colorado Springs leaders in town hall

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Colorado Springs residents took their frustrations about city issues directly to city leaders in a town hall on Thursday night.

City leaders hit on a number of topics, but the one that garnered heavy feedback: homeless encampments in Colorado Springs.

Re-districting and roads were the other two big topics, but the issue of homeless camps around the city is what citizens say frustrates them the most.

However, Colorado Springs Councilman Dave Donelson says the city is restricted in what can be done about it, "It starts with our court system. Our court systems have changed what law enforcement can do. I would say our state legislator and our governor have also made it harder to address that problem." 

Residents say they've had enough, "Having a law that basically means, I'll tell you something, but I can't do anything and then I'll tell you again. To me, that's lawlessness," Barry Schiff said.

The city takes a "low tolerance" approach, but CSPD cannot jail individuals who are caught camping in violation of the city ordinance.

According to the Colorado Springs Police Department, the CSPD's HOT team discovers community members breaking the city's camping ordinance, they notify the people who are illegally camping and post a 24-hour notice to remove the campsite.

"If they're on private property, they move from private property to public space. We're not going to take an enforcement action where they're cited or arrested. We're going to take an education approach," Lt. Brian Steckler said.

Officers will return to the campsite 24 hours later and issue citations to anyone who is still illegally camping there. If a person does not appear in court for their citation, officers go find them and cite them again for not going to court as required. If they are spotted at another time, officers can arrest them and book them into jail.

The Colorado Springs Police Department has a dedicated Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) made up of 6 officers and 1 sergeant. The team is tasked with scouring 200 square miles of the city to enforce the camping ban.

Although CSPD says they are seeing overall numbers go down, residents feel that more needs to be done, "I'm worried about humanity going forward and if we keep on those trends, it looks like a train wreck to me," Schiff said.

Councilman Donelson says the only way to get news laws created that will address homeless issues, is to vote in leaders who align with those goals.