Homeless ousted from park
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward O'ahu Writer
Eva "Frenchie" Nutt held a firm grip on her 3-year-old red pit bull, Beard, and watched with trepidation as police and representatives from several city departments as well as the Hawaiian Humane Society swarmed through Kalaeloa Park yesterday morning, intent on moving out the homeless people who lived there.
"I don't want to give up my dog," said Nutt, 44, who had been a resident of the wooded area by the beach since October. "She's like a daughter."
Nutt also didn't want to give up the 1993 Mercury she was standing next to. The car didn't run, she said, but it contained all her possessions.
In recent weeks, the campsite in and around Kalaeloa Park near Nimitz Beach had been overtaken by more than 100 people, said Honolulu Police Department Sgt. Antone Pacheco, the officer in charge of yesterday's operation.
Such sweeps are conducted periodically at parks and beaches across O'ahu as needed to keep the facilities open to the public. Yesterday's operation followed a week-long effort by police to advise folks at the park that authorities would be cracking down.
Twenty officers at the site handed out citations for illegal camping and illegal storage, as well as camping without a permit and keeping dogs in the park.
"We did a really strong enforcement and education program in the past week," Pacheco said. "Only the stubborn families are remaining.
"We gave notice just to give them a fair chance. Each family has been warned and cited on numerous occasions. After today's sweep, we're going to start making arrests."
Most who had been living in the area had already moved out. Nutt had packed up before agents arrived and said she was only waiting for friends to help move the car. But when the friends didn't show, a city tow truck hauled the Mercury away while Nutt watched, wept and swore loudly.
"Now they're taking my car!" she screamed. "It's got everything I own in it."
Possibly out of compassion or perhaps because none of her possessions remained in the park, police allowed the woman to keep Beard.
After the car was gone, Nutt and Beard walked off slowly down the road and out of sight.
"These people need help," said Leeward district patrol officer Michael Hall, who has spent his off hours recently trying to find solutions for beach dwellers in his area. "People are just turning their backs on the homeless. Every life is important. We've tried to get them into different programs that might be able to help them.
"The sad part is that some of them are given help but they don't want to live by the rules."
Hall said often homeless people apply for help in various shelter programs, but are turned away after the review board discovers they've been evicted in the past for repeated violations.
"We're the ones who are the bad guys because we're stuck with the enforcement," said Hall, who added that officers have to walk a tight line with regard to serving the needs of the public when it comes to homeless.
The public has a right to demand clean and safe beaches, he said. And it's his job to make sure the laws are followed. On the other hand, he worries about the well-being of those being ousted — especially children.
Hall said that of the eight families still on the beach early yesterday, all but one included kids.
Kathy Neizmen said she had no idea where she and her three sons, ages 10, 14 and 17, would stay once they left the park.
"We were at the shelter at Barber's Point and we were evicted," said Neizmen, 43. "Once we were evicted, they said we couldn't go back in. And we're not able to qualify for other state places, and so it's really messed up.
"I don't know where we'll go. And we can't come back here because we'll be arrested. I asked them to show a little compassion. We know we need to comply, but ..."
Her voice trailed off as she wiped tears from her eyes.
Gordon Ng was one of three city workers overseeing a cleanup by 19 inmates from the O'ahu Community Correctional Center. Ng said he's been involved in a half-dozen similar sweeps on O'ahu in the past year.
"We went through this right here back on March 17," he said. "We come in, clean up all their rubbish, and then after we're gone, they come right back again."
Officer Vincent Telles, with the HPD crime prevention unit, agreed.
"If you come back in two months, they'll be here again," said Telles, who described the situation as a "never-ending problem" that's compounded by the fact that the public keeps its head in the sand when it comes to the homeless issue.
The sweep, which began at 8 a.m., was over two hours later. Park settlers had been moved out, cleaning crews had collected and hauled away that which didn't belong, and vehicles had been towed or driven away.
At an intersection about a half-mile from the park, a cluster of about a dozen homeless, including Neizmen, Nutt and Beard, stood literally at a fork in the road. A pile of possessions sat on the ground beside them.
"This teaches you not to judge," said Neizmen, who had become stoic. "It gives you a deeper appreciation. We don't know where we're going. But we know everything will be OK."
Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.
