Fights, feces, needles plague Berkeley homeless encampment; neighbors concerned

Berkeley homeless encampment may be a game changer

Though Berkeley is no stranger to camps of all kinds, one camp is a quiet residential neighborhood that could force some big changes. This may bring Berkeleys long bout with homelessness to a head.

BERKELEY, Calif. - Though Berkeley is no stranger to camps of all kinds, one camp in a quiet residential neighborhood could force some big changes. This may bring Berkeley's long bout with homelessness to a head.

The ever-tolerant folks of Berkeley are becoming less so, as it relates to homeless encampments. The latest conflict point is Ohlone Park, at the corner of Hearst and Martin Luther King Way.

‘It’s getting worse'

What they're saying:

"We're really investigating any avenue, all avenues, to resolve this issue because it's getting worse by the day. There's no one to manage the behaviors here," said local resident Nicholas Alexander of Save Ohlone Park.

Alexander is one of many angry neighbors, and park users are fed up with noise, crime, fights, needles, garbage human waste, dog waste, not in the dog park but on the grass, as well as concerns for their own and their family's safety.

"We had someone who was beat up and knocked down on the street the other day. It's just every single day something happens," said Alexander.

"I pay almost 10% of our income for, you know, property tax and property insurance and I worry about the effect that this has on all of us and on our communities," said homeowner Gay Lyons.

Having been to many of these encampments over the years, this reporter can tell you that this one is pretty much spotless and that’s fine. But the problem is, as we've seen in every other camp I have visited, and that's plenty of them, these camps keep growing until they become unmanageable and a mess.

Will it grow?

This one is likely no exception as more people move in.

"You're eventually gonna reach a point where you have too many, you know, problems," said Alexander.

"We love our community. We love our park and we love our animals and we want to make sure they think of us before they do too much," said resident Ricardo Moscarro.

The lone encampment resident we spoke with said, a brute force eviction will only bring more conflict, though he would leave.

"Not like they've seen since 1968 or '69 type of uprising. Worse case scenario, I live in an alley," said encampment dweller Richard Weaver.

A group called Where Do We Go? explains why what was originally a five-tent protest camp grew to more than 30 as Berkeley swept other camps.

"City employees and staff, including police officers and the homeless response team, have told unhoused individuals to go camp at Ohlone Park. We can move an entire encampment in one day if there was a safe place for individuals to be," said Andrea Henson of the Where Do We Go? organization.

As of this writing, we have not heard back from City of Berkeley officials.

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