St. Pete homeless now given ultimatums by police

Quietly and with little fanfare, the city this week took its next step in dealing with its homeless population.

On Tuesday night St. Petersburg police began telling the homeless that if there is available bed space at one of two shelters, they have to go there – or go to jail.

One of the shelters is Safe Harbor, the new homeless shelter in Clearwater; the other is the St. Petersburg shelter run by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Mayor Bill Foster said it was too early to gauge the program's overall success, but he was pleased with the first two nights.

"I think it's the start of something wonderful, but we're not declaring victory," Foster said. "This is an age-old problem."

On Monday, St. Petersburg was told a new courtyard with 100 spots had opened outside Safe Harbor, which is run by the Pinellas Sheriff's Office. Because there are spots for 370 homeless people inside the shelter, the opening of the courtyard brings the total occupancy to 470.

In short, there is plenty of space for the police department to start enforcing an ordinance that prohibits the homeless from sleeping on any right of way, including the sidewalk, if there is an available bed at a shelter. If there weren't any beds available at either of the two shelters, they couldn't enforce it.

"The person shall not be charged … if the person agrees to be transported to the shelter," according to a copy of a flier that police began distributing to the homeless population this week.

On Tuesday night, no one went to the Pinellas County Jail. Instead, 17 homeless people volunteered to be taken to Safe Harbor, rather than be incarcerated, said St. Petersburg police spokesman Mike Puetz, and all of them were given spots inside. Two went to St. Vincent DePaul.

"The preference … is to have people get off the streets and come to Safe Harbor voluntarily," Pinellas Sheriff's Chief Deputy Bob Gualtieri said. "If they don't want to come voluntarily, then each jurisdiction has to exercise its own discretion as to how they'll handle it."

"Whether they want to begin enforcing the ordinance because they now have the available space is their decision," Gualtieri said. "We'll let them know what's available and they can act or react as they deem appropriate."

"I believe what we told St. Pete is, 'We can hold 470,' " Gualtieri said. "What St. Pete does with that number … That's St. Pete's call."

The courtyard is reserved for the more problematic homeless, Gualtieri said. There are rubber mats underneath mattresses, picnic tables and portable toilets. Huge canopies protect the homeless in the courtyard from the rain.

The idea is that once the more disruptive start behaving, they can land a spot inside, where they get a bunk bed, regular meals, and shower facilities, Gualtieri said.