San Joaquin County Probation and Local Law Enforcement Join Forces to Address Community Concerns Regarding Homeless Encampment in Stockton

STOCKTON, CA – Probation Officers from the San Joaquin Community Assessment, Response, and Engagement Services (SJ CARES) team partnered with Strategic Community Officers (SCO) from the Stockton Police Department (SPD) to address concerns from the community regarding a large homeless encampment in the Country Club and I-5 area.

Probation Chief Steve Jackson, San Joaquin Board Supervisor Mario Gardea, and Sheriff Pat Withrow joined the outreach teams to witness first-hand the amount of clean up that needs to take place in the area. Homeless outreach teams, such as SJ CARES or SCO’s, often respond to homeless encampments to address community concerns and offer services to the most vulnerable members in our community. While the expectation of the community is to uproot these individuals and clear out the encampments, it is not that simple.

Unfortunately, the holdup stands with CalTrans and the California Highway Patrol, as several areas along the freeways and highways are state-owned land. Our County is working diligently to find a resolution to the jurisdictional issues that prevent our teams from working together to conduct clean-up’s. The County has been actively trying to pursue a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with CalTrans to help service areas owned by the State. With an MOU in place, agencies would be able to provide services and remove individuals from encampments, with inmate clean-up crews from the Sheriff’s Office following behind to clear out the mess that is left behind. Right now, CalTrans is the only agency authorized to conduct this type of clean up on state-owned property and with a long list of encampments to tackle, unhoused individuals who are moved out by local agencies, end up returning to these locations before the clean-up can occur. 

Results from their outreach resulted in SJ CARES connecting with 10 individuals to offer services, three of them accepted and signed paperwork to begin receiving those services. Four individuals with active bench warrants were removed and booked into the County Jail. Two other individuals were cited and released; however, one of the individuals, who was cited for walking on the freeway, was later arrested for indecent exposure.

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