Medford, Ore. – Police conducted a check on camping spots occupied by homeless people in the City of Medford.
Medford Police said the clean up early Thursday morning illustrates the toll illegal camping takes on the environment.
MPD wrote on a Facebook post, “There is obviously no easy solution to homelessness, which has increased in our area recently. You all see this as much as we do. We work together with other city departments, private organization, and get direction from our city council to come up with solutions. We continue to navigate through this.”
Following a July sweep of the Bear Creek Greenway, police said simply leaving campers alone isn’t an option.
“It would create a toll on the environment, as well as a significantly safety issue to the folks using the bike path,” MPD wrote. “We do our best to provide campers with resources to help get them out of the situation, but ultimately it will be something they will have to want to do. We cannot force them.”
In past sweeps, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office has seen trash several hundred yards out.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said it finds everything on the sweeps from drug paraphernalia, to clothing, and just plain garbage from the population living on the Greenway.
According to JSCO, whichever agency is taking over jurisdiction of a particular sweep is typically the one that pays for the cleanup.
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