ST. LOUIS — Dozens of people living in a makeshift encampment on the lawn of St. Louis' City Hall will be forced to move.
By 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, multiple tents were taken down and at least 15 people went into a shelter, according to the city's Department of Human Services.
A spokesperson for St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones said the city made the decision to "decommission" the encampment at 10:01 p.m. Monday by enforcing a curfew law that effectively closes parks in the city between 10 p.m.–6 a.m. unless a person has a permit issued by the Board of Public Service or the Director of Parks, Recreation and Forestry.
St. Louis Alderman Rasheen Aldridge told 5 On Your Side the mayor's office decided to postpone dispersing the homeless tent encampment Monday night and rather work to help find them shelter.
Outreach workers with the Department of Human Services were sent to the encampment Tuesday morning to "facilitate individuals into shelters and accommodate additional individuals who arrived on-site," city spokesperson Nick Desideri said in a statement Monday night.
Tuesday afternoon, Director of the Department of Human Services Adam Pearson provided an update on the encampment:
"We have 50 beds set aside for individuals who might want to go shelter or transitional housing," Pearson said. "The plan is to work with individuals to store their items and then transport them to shelter or transitional housing for (Tuesday) afternoon and where they will get a chance to stay for at least a few weeks."
Pearson added that the department continues to work with law enforcement officials and their outreach team to engage with those facing homelessness on the lawn of City Hall. 5 On Your Side saw crews with the city's forestry division on the scene interacting with people, packing up tents and bags.
Alderman Rasheen Aldridge and Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier, along with organizations such as the St. Patrick's Center, ArchCity Defenders, Urban League and New Life Evangelistic Center on the scene Tuesday.
Lee Camp, managing attorney for ArchCity Defenders, said this is a crisis.
"I’ve been doing this for about 10 years as an eviction defense attorney. The evictions are as high I’ve ever seen it, across the nation and not just in St. Louis, but we are at a crisis [of] instability," Camp said.
Twenty-eight-year-old Gino McCoy lived at the encampment for a month with his pregnant wife and three dogs. He said he's currently in school and has a job, but can't save up enough money.
"My wife and I came from Phoenix with a promise from public housing that we would be placed when we got out here. We took our last money to get out here because what they told us, but when we got out here ... it was totally different," he said. "I can’t have my kid out here in the street. It’s a disgrace and the money I make is to survive out here, so how can I save up for an apartment?"
St. Louis City Hall sits on a plot of land known as Washington Square Park, one of six parks along Market Street in the Downtown West Neighborhood. Across Market Street is Poekler Park, where many of the city's homeless have long sheltered.
Dunne cited about 50 police calls for service between Aug. 14 and Sept. 28; more than 30 EMS calls for service for overdoses, seizures and other medical emergencies; fighting between people who live in the encampment and passersby; an increase in calls from city employees reporting being accosted at work; and drug paraphernalia.
Pearson said while the department and city are telling homeless people to go — if people want to stay, then that's up to them. However, Pearson said he believes the park curfew will be enforced Tuesday at 10 p.m.
Over the past several weeks, the number of tents on the City Hall lawn grew from two to more than 25.
