MEDFORD, Ore. – Months after the City of Medford passed a camping ordinance, police are continuing to sweep the Bear Creek Greenway collecting trash. At about 5:30a.m. Tuesday morning they swept another camp, but this time they met resistance.
TBone, an unhoused person who lived along the Bear Creek Greenway was arrested and released for allegedly refusing to leave what he says is his home. Housing advocate, Graham Trim was sleeping at TBone’s camp when police arrested him Tuesday morning.
“I was told to leave, to gather my things and leave this morning, I complied. I don’t know what happened to TBone. The first time I saw him this morning was about 2 seconds after I woke up. And he was in handcuffs,” said Trim.
Within the hour, another advocate locked himself to a bulldozer to prevent officers from sweeping the area. He was also arrested.
“He wanted to make a point about the fact that the city and the police are not listening to unhoused people when it comes to deciding what the best way to deal with the housing shortage,” said Trim.
Medford Police Sgt. Geoff Kirkpatrick said people on the Greenway were told months ago they needed to leave. Officers posted a 72-hour eviction notice on this camp at the beginning of last week on Thursday they were met with an attorney and advocates surrounding the area.
“They told us they weren’t going to leave, it wasn’t a surprise,” said Sgt. Kirkpatrick.
That’s why Sgt. Kirkpatrick said they decided to do the sweep in the early morning Tuesday.
“We knew that there would be a propensity for conflict if there were a bunch of people gathered around the camp,” said Sgt. Kirkpatrick.
Both men who were arrested this morning have already made bail.
Medford Police said the majority of homeless folks have worked with their agency. There’s been a total of 4 arrests and 2 citations out of the 100 camps they’ve swept. So far, the city has collected 535 cubic yards of trash. That’s equal to almost 18, 30-yard dumpsters.
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