sa国际传媒官网网页入口

On any given day last week, inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center classified as 鈥渢ransient鈥� outnumbered those with a home address.

Nine years after the city of sa国际传媒官网网页入口 agreed to adopt more of a noncriminal justice approach to dealing with homelessness, jail bookings of people identified as 鈥渢ransient鈥� jumped from 3,670 in 2022 to nearly 12,000 last year, according to a recent court filing.

Those incarcerated typically don鈥檛 stay long. Usually they are arrested for failing to show up for court after being cited for misdemeanors such as criminal trespass or obstructing a sidewalk. But advocates say most shouldn鈥檛 be there at all.

鈥淚n our view, the city is using MDC as a temporary homeless shelter,鈥� said Ryan Villa, one of the attorneys who contends the city and the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Police Department have failed to live up to a 2017 agreement to remedy unconstitutional and unlawful practices affecting those living on the streets.

The city鈥檚 compliance is currently an issue before U.S. District Judge James Browning of sa国际传媒官网网页入口, who oversees the class-action lawsuit filed in 1995 by plaintiff Jimmy McClendon, then an MDC inmate.

The lawsuit鈥檚 original goal was to prevent overcrowding at MDC, which has since moved from Downtown to the West Side. It houses defendants awaiting court and those serving sentences of up to a year.

An offshoot of the McClendon case led to a settlement agreement in 2017 after the city was accused of conducting street sweeps of people whom APD had referred to as the 鈥渉omeless mentally ill,鈥� court records show.

But last year the city asked to be released from the case. It contended the 10 requirements imposed by the settlement had been not only met but, in some instances, exceeded. 

One key remedy directed sa国际传媒官网网页入口 police to issue citations to nonviolent individuals accused of misdemeanors when circumstances didn鈥檛 call for an arrest.

鈥淲hile the City intends to continue its programs designed to prevent unnecessary incarceration鈥t should be permitted to do so without judicial oversight, without remaining a defendant in a decades-long lawsuit, without the duty to pay attorneys fees whenever Plaintiffs believe they have grounds to complain about the City鈥檚 actions鈥�,鈥� stated the motion to dismiss filed in March 2025.

In a response filed last week, the plaintiffs鈥� attorneys contended the city has 鈥渢urned back the clock鈥� and resumed the 鈥渧ery same tactics鈥� that led to the agreement.

鈥淭he City has significantly and openly increased criminal enforcement against nonviolent misdemeanants, particularly the unhoused and those with mental illness, and begun crowding the jail via the adoption of systematic practices and formal enforcement policies at odds with the Settlement Agreement terms and purpose,鈥� stated Villa鈥檚 30-page motion.

Priscilla Monta帽o has been shuffled between jail cells and the streets over the past year after citations during encampment sweeps escalated to missed court hearings and arrest warrants.

鈥淭hey give us an option, either you go to jail or you go to a shelter,鈥� the 68-year-old said in an interview Friday. 鈥淎nd they will arrest you right there and, then again, there goes everything that we have.鈥�

Monta帽o said she lost belongings in the shuffle 鈥� a wedding ring, family heirlooms and, at one point, had to surrender her two dogs. She said she has received more than two dozen citations as the encampment teams appear to follow the homeless population as they move from place to place.

In the end, every one of the cases against her has been dismissed by prosecutors, the motions stating that 鈥渢he State is declining prosecution at this time.鈥�

鈥淚 get angry a lot because of how APD treats us and how the city treats us,鈥� Monta帽o said.

Policy changes

The city hasn鈥檛 yet filed a response to Villa鈥檚 motion, but APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said Friday that while policies have been revised or updated regarding arrest procedures, they all still conform to the 2017 agreement.

He added that APD has committed more personnel to transport people experiencing homelessness to resources, such as services and housing at the Gateway Center complex.

Gallegos said the increase in jail bookings doesn鈥檛 necessarily mean the APD has stepped up enforcement.

鈥淭he city has responded to more encampment locations due to an increase in the number of encampments,鈥� Gallegos said, 鈥渁nd complaints from the public about camping, roadways being obstructed, and sidewalks and businesses being blocked.鈥�

Plaintiffs鈥� attorneys say the city so far hasn鈥檛 formally attributed the increase to the overall surge in the homeless population in sa国际传媒官网网页入口.

鈥淚t is the city who has the burden to show that they have complied,鈥� Villa said. 鈥淚t has not presented any evidence between 2023 and now that is consistent with any increase in the population of homeless individuals.鈥�

The motion under consideration by Browning states that in 2025, people were charged 1,256 times for obstructing sidewalks 鈥� nearly six times the number of cases in the previous eight years combined. 

The plaintiffs鈥� attorneys also say that city officials have initiated 鈥渢actical plans鈥� for sweeping homeless people from the streets and have been arresting people for misdemeanors.

The city revised its encampment policy in February, which states that the city will provide notice before clearing the area where an encampment has formed, but 鈥渨ill take criminal enforcement action against those who refuse to leave the area or return to the encampment area after it has been cleared.鈥�

In the revised policy, APD also isn鈥檛 prohibited 鈥渇rom taking any law enforcement action based on the conduct of any individual present at an encampment,鈥� states the plaintiffs鈥� motion.

Gallegos said the revised encampment policy is meant to clarify protocols.

鈥淚t does not require criminal enforcement,鈥� Gallegos said. 鈥淭he city has procedures in place, in the form of this encampment policy, that spell out how the city鈥檚 handles most encampment calls.鈥�

A city interaction team, composed of civilians, handles most calls, he said, adding that APD is present at a small percentage.

showed an officer warning Monta帽o to move down the block or she鈥檚 going to jail. A man tries to help her gather her belongings, which overflow from a shopping cart, before the officer tells the man to stop or he will be cited. 

Several minutes later, as Monta帽o struggles to roll the shopping cart out of the area with her two dogs in tow, the officer approaches again. He tells Monta帽o that he told her to walk four blocks down the street.

Now, he tells her, she鈥檚 going to go to jail. The officer says, 鈥淚 gave you so much time to move鈥� and she replies, 鈥淚 was moving.鈥� As police place her in handcuffs, Monta帽o tells an officer she has court today. He replies, 鈥淥h, me too鈥� See you there.鈥�

鈥楻eturn to sender鈥�

More recently, on Thursday, an sa国际传媒官网网页入口 police officer appeared to be following the policy while working on APD鈥檚 Encampment Team in the 8100 block of Central NE.

Court records state the officer noticed an unhoused woman named Cassandra standing on the sidewalk with a green, dismantled tent and a shopping cart containing clothing covered with a white bed sheet.

A check of an APD database showed the 42-year-old was a 鈥渞epeat offender in the area,鈥� according to the officer鈥檚 report. She had been contacted and cited by the Encampment Team approximately 21 times. Charges included obstructing the sidewalk four times in December, the officer鈥檚 report stated. 

Despite efforts by a city outreach team and the encampment team to provide resources, Cassandra 鈥渞emained in the same area where she was cited,鈥� according to the report.

So the officer placed her in handcuffs, conducted a full search, and charged her under a city ordinance that makes it unlawful to place articles, goods, wares or items on a sidewalk.

Cassandra was also charged with unlawful storage of property, obstructing the street right of way and criminal trespass. She was booked into MDC.

By Friday, she had pleaded no contest before a Metro Court judge and was sentenced to two days in jail, which she had already served, court records show. Cassandra was ordered released but couldn鈥檛 be reached for comment. A phone number listed for her mother was no longer in service on Friday.

Late last year, Monta帽o said, with the help of sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Community Safety, she was accepted into the Gateway Center. Monta帽o said she stayed at the shelter for 120 days and was then given a voucher to stay at a motel, the next step in her journey to finding a home.

But that step turned into a pothole, Monta帽o said, as the city informed her a week into her stay that 鈥� for reasons she did not know 鈥� the voucher had run out. She was back on the streets, back to the shuffle.

As the sun rose Saturday, Monta帽o sat alongside the Interstate 40 overpass with all of her belongings, the ones she has held onto, piled around her. She was waiting for the encampment teams to come, with their loudspeakers and dump trucks.

She didn鈥檛 want to go back to jail, and she didn鈥檛 want to lose anything else. With nowhere to go, she waited. 

Unbeknownst to Monta帽o, a warrant had been issued for her arrest in November. She missed a hearing after being cited for obstructing the street, a petty misdemeanor.

The hearing notices sent by the court 鈥� with no known address 鈥� had gone undelivered. A stamp on the envelope read: 鈥淩eturn to sender.鈥�

Journal Staff Writer Natalie Robbins, Journal News Editor Matthew Reisen and Journal photographer Chancey Bush contributed to this report.