COLORADO SPRINGS- Yesterday the CS municipal government, under the threat of an ongoing lawsuit, once again declared that it would end police raids on the Homeless. KKTV reports the following- ‘The Colorado Springs City Council voted in favor Tuesday on a plan to help the city’s homeless. The plan is being called the 10-Year Blueprint To Serve Every Homeless Citizen in the Pikes Peak Region. Tuesday’s vote follows the Council’s approval on Monday to adopt a new plan that includes giving homeless residents advanced warning of cleanups and using mental health workers to communicate with them during the sweeps. City officials placed a moratorium on homeless camp cleanups this fall after homeless advocates threatened to sue the city.’

Yes, well this 10 year city plan follows a previous 5 year city plan to supposedly end homelessness in the city, and that certainly did not occur. Actually, it is mandated that the city file a ‘plan’ such as this to be able to receive certain Federal monies, and the rhetoric is totally empty of any real meaning other than to latch onto those funds.

Many Homeless in the city say that the city has not actually ended these raids, but has merely made them more clandestine. Further, they say their biggest fear is not even these police raids, but the fact that there have been multiple sever beatings of the Homeless within city limits. The Homeless fear not only violent crime directed against them, but they also fear the lack of any significant police protection against these crimes. So the issues for the Homeless in the community is more than just one of police raids.

Further, the Homeless continue to complain of any lack of access to most social programs set up. This complaint is entirely in line with previous media reports of waits of over one month to get food stamps in the city area, and the inability to get through on the state’s initial line to file for Unemployment Benefits, which we wrote about just last week on this blog.

Luckily, the weather has been rather mild this Winter so that is the one silver lining these days for the local area Homeless population. The city does seem insistent on trying to harass the Homeless in this city to the max, but to just do it undercover. One note about the city government… was that the only city councilman to step out and meet with the people gathered outside the city meeting in protest against these city police raids was Councilman Jerry Heimlicher. Good for him! The mayor, Lionel Rivera tried to walk on by unnoticed. Si, Senor! Good thing the lawsuit remains on file at this point. These are slick people.