SALT LAKE CITY — Dwight Smith is initially from St. Louis, but came to Salt Lake for a better life. However, even with a job and a place to live, that hope slowly turned into a nightmare.
“Things started to get a little rocky, I ended up in debt, not debt that I acquired, but debt that the person I was staying with acquired,” Smith said.
The debt started piling on, which made it hard to find another place to live.
“I went to the streets, and at that time you lose hope,” Smith said. "You start to kind of give up, you’re like 'what's the use now?'”
Smith shared his story in a meeting with Salt Lake City police officers on Monday, but the topic of cracking down on public camping came up.
“We've seen the devastation of camping in other cities where it's allowed… predators come in and they victimize, they deal with drugs, and we can't have that,” said Chief Brian Redd of the Salt Lake City Police Department. "We’ve got to increase the capacity for all of you, I know that.”
On Tuesday, the city was discussing a proposed ordinance that would now include penalties for people camping in their vehicles, and some think it’s going too far with shelters being full.
“If they keep getting ticket after ticket after ticket for no camping when there's no place else to go,” said Kseniya Kniazeva, executive director for Nomad Alliance. "It only pushes the problem into another neighborhood…. rather than actually solving it.”
Some council members voiced similar concerns during the work session and asked where people would go.
“That's a huge problem,” said Andrew Johnston, Director of Homeless Policy and Outreach for the city. "We're still working as hard as we can to figure out temporary shelter solutions for individuals, places to legally be that would also accommodate the particular needs of folks who are unsheltered or living in a vehicle.”
However, some are concerned about the safety risks stricter laws could pose.
“If I were to put myself in that place, I would look for darker, more secluded places where I couldn’t be seen, when the very human urge to sleep happens, which then makes me worry that we're pushing vulnerable people...into more dangerous situations,” said council member Victoria Petro, District 1.
However, Smith said that’s already happening.
“We have a lot of women out there, young women, young girls that need help, and then you got people out there that are preying on them,” Smith said. “We need some of the people to trust in us. We need some of the people to create jobs and create apartments and bring some of their people in and solve this problem. These police departments cannot do it by themselves.”
Council is set to hear public comment on May 5.
