San Francisco Sweeps Homeless Camps Following Court Rulings

SAN FRANCISCO—Homeless people in San Francisco are adapting to the city’s new encampment sweeping policy, which was enacted after a recent Ninth Circuit ruling paved the way for the city to clear out homeless camps. Previously, the city had to offer shelter to the homeless individuals every time it swept out a camp. After the new ruling, it can clear a recently swept area without shelter offers. San Francisco has thus performed a citywide homeless encampment sweeping in the last few weeks, targeting the largest encampment areas. An Epoch Times reporter visited the corner of Mission Street and Van Ness Avenue on the evening of Aug. 8 and found no tents in the neighborhood, which used to be a major encampment site near downtown. Some of the homeless people from that area are now scattered into smaller encampments, with tools like bicycles that give them the mobility to set up tents for the night....