Police say Wichita businesses want homeless moved; displaced people unsure where to go

Wichita police say that the city’s business community was the driving force behind freshly painted white lines downtown meant to “visually educate” homeless people that they cannot set up semi-permanent residences there.

“The business owners are concerned about their private property rights,” said Wichita police Sgt. David Nienstedt, who oversees the department’s Homeless Outreach Team. The lines are on the sidewalk at the intersection of Second and Topeka.

“I don’t care where people walk. It’s not a matter that you stay on the sidewalk when you’re walking. It’s when we have people that are putting up tents or people that have mattresses,” Nienstedt said.

The plan to paint lines on the sidewalk was first introduced by police at City Council member Cindy Claycomb’s District 6 Advisory Board meeting Monday night.

Claycomb did not respond to requests for comment.

Mayor Brandon Whipple was critical of the new police initiative, which he said will do nothing to address underlying factors that contribute to homelessness.

“The idea that we just shuffle people who are experiencing homelessness out of sight and out of mind is not human, like, at all,” Whipple said. “We’re better than that as a city.”

Authorities say business owners in the area have complained about rampant violence, drug use and unsanitary conditions in the homeless encampment at the doorstep of United Methodist Open Door day shelter.

The Eagle contacted multiple businesses in the area, including AT&T and Big Brothers Big Sisters, but none of them responded to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the Wichita Independent Business Alliance said she hasn’t heard any specific complaints from local businesses, and the Wichita Chamber of Commerce did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.

But regular visitors to the corridor say breaking up the encampment pushes vulnerable people farther from the services they rely on, which are located downtown.

“They didn’t tell the people where to go. They just told them to not be here,” said Jack Green. “That means they’re trying to push them out of the downtown area.”

He said homeless Wichitans used to congregate in Naftzger Park on Douglas and at the nearby Spaghetti Works building.

“They ran them off from there, so that’s why everybody came back down into this area,” Green said.

Asked directly, Nienstedt did not provide a specific place where displaced people should move to. He said homeless Wichitans can spend their days wherever they please as long as they don’t disturb the peace.

“People are free to go to the parks. The issue becomes that you can’t set up camps,” he said.

Camping on public property without a permit is illegal in Wichita. Violators can face a fine of up to $500 and 30 days in jail. However, any homeless resident who cannot seek shelter or services for any reason, including being banned from local shelters, cannot be in violation of the city’s no-camping ordinance.

Police say they plan to spend the next week handing out fliers and educating people about their more stringent enforcement of anti-trespassing laws downtown. Whipple said more effort should be put into helping unhoused communities.

“I would not be in support of arresting anyone just because they’re homeless regardless of where they are,” Whipple said.

“Being homeless is not against the law. We should not criminalize homeless folks . . . We need to take this on as an issue here in our city as we would any other crisis.”

Robert Edwards, who also spends time at the encampment near Open Door, said issuing citations and arresting homeless people will only perpetuate the cycles that keep them on the streets.

“A lot of people that are down here because they’re homeless and got maybe a drug violation or something, which makes it harder to rent,” Edwards said. “You know, renters don’t want to rent to those people, so they’re going to have to change up a whole lot of laws and ordinances.”

Deann Smith, executive director of Open Door, declined to comment on the police department’s new tactics for cleaning up the area around the shelter, saying it’s a divisive issue.

Smith confirmed that behavioral issues have escalated in recent months, which she attributed to untreated mental health issues and substance abuse.

Green said unrest in the community is largely caused by people who are experiencing homelessness for the first time.

“All of this [stuff] is new to them, so they don’t know the ropes, which creates crime,” Green said. “Now they’re out here trying to survive. They’re stealing from one another, which creates chaos and fights.”

Whipple said the moment calls for compassion and decisive action from city leaders.

“We should actually be addressing these problems in allowing folks to hopefully break that cycle of addiction or get the services they need for the underlying mental health conditions that have caused them to be in these situations,” he said.

Contributing: Chance Swaim of The Wichita Eagle

This story was originally published October 7, 2021 at 2:40 PM.