Homeless encampment in southwest quarter of Bloomington displaced, mayor on site for work
An encampment where reportedly up to a dozen people were living in the southwest quadrant of Bloomington was cleared Thursday morning by city staff from public works and the community and family resources department (CFRD), with police officers standing by.
The land is city-owned property on the northwest corner of the intersection of Fairview Street and Patterson Drive.
Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson was on site assisting with the work, and talking to the people who were being displaced.
Thomson told The B Square that she believes there were two camp residents when she arrived, which was shortly after some DROs did. A DRO is a downtown resource officer—which is a sworn police officer.
The B Square saw two DROs, standing off to the side observing the operation.
When The B Square arrived, just after noon, most of the work to dismantle the camp had been completed. Thomson said that the city’s team had worked with the campers to separate the items they wanted to keep from those that could be thrown away. There was a city sanitation truck on site to haul off the material to be thrown away.
The city had notified caseworkers from IU Health’s Positive Link and HealthNet—who were on site.
The B Square observed Thomson retrieving a length of braided cloth from a tree branch and handing it over to one of the camp residents, who had a canine companion. Thomson spoke with him for several minutes.
A few minutes before that, he had told The B Square that his dog was a hero, because it had rescued him from a fire at the camp.
Fires at the camp were one of the public safety issues that Thomson said had prompted the city to take action.
Thomson said that she learned of the planned removal of the encampment from the public works department. Asked if it was a public works decision, she said, “I actually don’t know. I don’t know where this decision was made, but I’m going to unravel it.”
Thomson had been sworn into office three days earlier.
Thomson said she did know that the downtown resource officers had been visiting the camp for over a month, talking to the people who were living there, letting them know that they needed to move.
Thomson told The B Square, “The initial move was planned for the week before Christmas. And that didn’t happen.” Asked why that timing was not followed,Thomson said, “I actually don’t know.”
Public works director Adam Wason, who was also on site assisting with the work, told The B Square that the work leading up to the camp removal was coordinated across the city’s social outreach program, police, community and family resources department (CFRD), and the public works departments.
Wason indicated that it was not a unilateral public works action, adding that “it was definitely a coordinated action.”
Wason confirmed Thomson’s understanding that the DROs had visited the camp repeatedly before that morning’s action, starting four to six weeks ago. Wason also said the action was prompted by complaints from nearby residents, some filed through the city’s uReport system.
Wason indicated that notices had been posted about the need to leave the encampment, in addition to the in-person visits.
The city’s general police order on removing a homeless encampment includes outreach at least 72 hours (3 days) before the planned removal, including the posting of written notice at the site.
In response to a follow-up from The B Square about Thomson’s statement that she learned about the planned removal of the camp from a public works employee, she confirmed that she could have halted the action.
Why didn’t she stop the camp removal? Thomson answered: “Because I asked why it was being moved. And there have been significant safety issues here, including a sizable fire.” Thomson told The B Square she had driven by the camp the previous night and seen another fire.
As far as not halting the planned removal of the encampment, Thomson added, “This was already happening. I’m not going to stop an operation that is intended to keep our city safe. And I want to find a better path.”
Thomson later recorded a video message to Bloomington residents about the encampment removal and posted it to social media.
“This morning, our city of Bloomington team had to move a homeless encampment. It’s an incredibly sad day when we need to do that.” The video continues, “I was able to talk to [the two remaining campers] personally and express to them that we really do need a better way and that I needed their feedback and their advice on how we could solve this problem.”
In the video, Thomson continues, “And I want you to know, Bloomington, that when we need to do things that make us sad, to take care of our community. I commit to you that I will always lead with compassion and follow up with policy that seeks safety and dignity for all.”
Thomson says her next steps are “reaching out to homeless service providers—as we did actually before we even moved the camp this morning—to seek their advice and to begin working on an immediate action plan, as well as a longer term plan for what we can do with our street unhoused population.”
The camper with the canine friend told The B Square that he would be heading to the Shalom Community Center. Among the things that he was salvaging from the camp was a shopping cart filled with bicycle wheels.
