South Lake Tahoe Police HOT team addressing homeless concerns

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Members of the South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) now make up the city's Homeless Outreach Team (HOT), giving them the ability to help change homelessness through relationship building and ongoing collaborative efforts while protecting the whole community.

Even though they formally began on April 28, 2020, SLTPD has always done homeless outreach in their day-to-day job. SLTPD Sergeant Russell Liles, Officer Traci Trapani, Officer Anton Kushlan, Officer John Spaeth, and Detective Ross Molesworth are the HOT team members with Trapani and Kushlan currently working with homeless on a full-time basis.

On May 12, 2020, some of the HOT officers went to the meadow near the 900 block of Sunset Drive behind Motel 6 with animal control officers and South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue (SLTFR) after being alerted of a possible explosion and uncontrolled campfire, resulting in injured canines. Two dogs were found, one was found injured and has since recuperated and been adopted. The other dog remained with its owner in the meadow.

After that, SLTPD partnered with the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office (EDSO) HOT group to contact and identify people experiencing homelessness in South Lake Tahoe. One goal of this outreach was to educate people from the homeless population on the dangers of cooking and warming fires.

Trapani said they found 20 encampments behind the motel, some with iron gates and wooden pallet barriers, and as big as 20 feet by 20 feet. Some people were at their camp, others were not but they were all active encampments, she said. The HOT team posted "No Trespassing" signs on tents on May 13 with a date of May 20 for the occupants to be packed up and moved out. South Tahoe Refuse donated a dumpster for items to be deposited in even though Trapani says there are still many items left behind including bikes, cabinets and trash. The dumpster ended up with 30 yards of items. Anything left is the landowner's responsibility to remove.

The signs also detailed the dangers of the use of camp stoves, campfires, and the use of combustible products.

Fifty propane cans were pulled out of the meadow.

EDSO HOT has been in place for a few years and they were recently in South Lake Tahoe to help the SLTPD HOT learn about their software as well as their successful methods. The software allows both departments to use the same database and track the homeless in both the city limits and in the county. Once contact is made, the name goes into the database with location and other pertinent information including family members, photos, and an action plan. It also marks locations of encampments and who/what was found there. With both departments using the same data one can move forward where the other left off. (To see more on EDSO HOT here)

Trapani said they will be building relationships with the homeless with the goal of getting them housed. They will connect them to resources and the Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless, assist them with obtaining driver's licenses and Social Security cards so they can receive funds, reconnect with family members, etc. She said these can be accomplished with daily interactions and agency cooperation.

"We are here to protect the quality of life of the community around us," said Trapani.

They work on reducing fire hazards and trespassing while giving homeless resources to move closer to being housed.

All officers with the SLTPD are trained to interact with all people under all circumstances, says interim Police Chief David Stevenson. There is no specific training on interacting with the homeless population.

SLTPD said they will continue to work with the EDSO HOT team and have collaborated with SLTFR and Cal Fire to assess the fire dangers of that area and to potentially create a long-term fuel mitigation solution. This is an on-going, multi-agency effort to address safety concerns with our surrounding community and outreach efforts with those experiencing homelessness who are living in the area.

Trapani said they make rounds of known encampments and interact with the homeless on a daily basis. She said they do know some of those displaced have moved to other areas including under the Trout Creek bridge and they will be working to address that situation as well.