Homeless fear 'weeding'
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
Opponents of a city proposal to strengthen camping laws and prevent protesters from congregating during the Asian Development Bank conference in May say the measure would unfairly target the homeless who sleep in city parks.
The measure is part of a package of bills introduced in preparation for the Asian Development Bank conference May 7-11 at the Hawai'i Convention Center. The bills are intended to deal with problems similar to those in Seattle during the 1999 World Trade Organization conference.
James Manaku said dogs and mounted police raise fears.
The most-debated bill would define camping, give police the authority to cite and arrest violators, and allow police to use mounted officers and dogs to enforce the law. The City Council's Community Services and Parks Committee voted 3-1 yesterday to send the bill to the full council for a final vote April 4.
Advocates for the homeless testified yesterday that the bill would criminalize and harass the homeless. Institute for Human Services executive director Lynn Maunakea said shelters are at capacity and the homeless often have nowhere to go.
"The type of 'weeding' proposed by this measure will not work without 'seeding,' " Maunakea said. "IHS might not be opposed to requiring individuals and families to find shelter at designated locations if sufficient shelters existed."
In other testimony, James Manaku said he feared that the use of dogs and mounted police could lead to injuries when people are evicted from parks. The law would require police to obtain a permit to use the dogs and horses.
"In the Wai'anae area, we've had many, many evictions and I have never seen the police have a hard time. And I've never seen the people protesting the evictions being violent," Manaku said. "So now when you say they can use horses and vicious dogs to evict us, it's pretty frightening."
But city Deputy Prosecutor Lori Nishimura said the bill was developed to deal with illegal camping, not the homeless or rowdy protesters.
"What this bill does is address the issue of illegal camping. It does not allude to why the person is illegally camping," Nishimura said.
The measure defines camping in a public park as sleeping or preparing to sleep; storing personal belongings; making a fire; digging into the ground or cooking. A permit is required to camp in city parks.
