TRUST ▪ CARE ▪ COMMITMENT
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE
Memorandum
To: Tom Kisela, City Manager
From: Dan Adams, Chief of Police
Date: March 3, 2025
Re: 2024 Homeless and H.E.A.R.T. Report
__________________________________________________________________________________ The Orange Police Department dedicates significant resources to the homeless community with a sergeant who oversees two officers assigned to the Homeless, Engagement, Assistance, & Resource Team (H.E.A.R.T.), three officers assigned to the Bike Team, and two civilians assigned as Homeless Outreach Specialists (H.O.S.). The teams work together on clean-up efforts, respond to large encampments, conduct enforcement, and collaborate on special projects.
H.E.A.R.T. maintains an effective presence in the community by providing field support to homeless individuals. They are routinely called upon by field patrol officers, specialized units, City departments, and community members for short and long-term solutions related to homelessness. Their solutions include connecting the homeless with various types of shelters, rehabilitation, counseling services, family reunifications, and immediate basic needs. H.E.A.R.T will take enforcement action with persistent, repeat violations, and other issues that generally mandate enforcement (i.e. narcotics, vandalism, theft). The Bike Team’s primary focus is enforcement, but they also handle other community and quality of life issues apart from homelessness.
In 2024, there were 4,575 homeless-related calls for service (CFS) citywide, an 18% increase from 2023.
In 2024, the Bike Team, H.O.S. Team and H.E.A.R.T. made a total of 5,275 contacts throughout the City, which included non-homeless specific contacts and repeated contacts with homeless specific individuals. This was a 14% decrease from 2023. There were 742 arrested for various crimes (e.g., warrants, trespassing, drug related activity, assaults, and theft). This is a 44% decrease from 2023. 69 arrests were made for felony offenses (53% decrease from 2023) and 673 arrests were made for misdemeanor offenses (42% decrease from 2023). The decrease in contacts is due to a change in requirements for Trespassing and Illegal Lodging Letters and greater focus on sheltering individuals.
H.E.A.R.T. sheltered 201 homeless individuals in 2024 compared to 165 in 2023, which is a 22% increase. This is primarily a result of the team’s proactive approach but also includes referrals and relationship building. Approximately 76 individuals were sheltered from the City Resource Provider (The Hub OC) at 517 W. Struck Ave. The other 125 individuals were sheltered from areas throughout our City (Hart Park, El Camino Park, Train Depot, Santiago Creek, etc.). 2 Other Shelters include Laura’s House, Yale Navigation Center, Olive Crest Host Families, Veteran Affairs, Salvation Army, Be Well Residential program, Fullerton Navigation Center, and Central City Navigation Center.
The team continues to refer homeless individuals willing to accept shelter into the Buena Park Navigation Center, Bridges at Kraemer Shelter, Placentia Navigation Center, and Home Aid Family Care Center. The Orange Police Department remains one of the highest utilizers of these shelters.
Unfortunately, many of the sheltered individuals leave the shelters after a short time for a variety of reasons, including curfew violations, drug related violations and not wanting to follow the shelters’ code of conduct. Additionally, these shelters periodically close for a variety of reasons such as Home Aid Family Care Center closing for several months due to a remodel and new management operating the facility.
H.E.A.R.T. refers individuals into the Salvation Army Program, 1st Step House of Orange County, College Hospital, and the Be Well Center in Orange for substance abuse-detox programs. In 2024, H.E.A.R.T. and H.O.S. were able to assist 6 individuals (64% decrease from 2023) with admission into rehab programs. H.E.A.R.T also works with the Orange County Outreach Team, offering various services such as shelter, detox, and medical to those in need. The Orange County Health Care Agency provides a Mental Health P.E.R.T. Clinician who accompanies H.E.A.R.T. every Monday. The clinician serves as a valuable mental health resource for members of the homeless community and non-homeless residents. The clinician also brings knowledge reference the county’s mental health and homeless related programs. In 2024, H.E.A.R.T. and the Mental Health Clinician conducted 133 mental health follow ups, 41 mental health evaluations, and placed 15 individuals on mental health holds. These numbers remained consistent with numbers from 2023. These individuals were lodged at local hospitals, UCI Medical Center, St. Joseph Hospital, CHOC, Chapman Global, Be Well and the Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU) in Santa Ana.
0102030405060708090100Buena ParkNavagationCenterBridges atKraemerPlacentiaNavagationCenterOther Shelters HomeAid Reunification935043861201 Individuals Sheltered at these Locations 3 H.E.A.R.T. maintains relationships with private and government outreach groups, such as The Beacon of Orange, One Church in Orange, Micah’s Way, Mercy House, P.A.T.H., The Orange County Rescue Mission, Orange County Outreach Team, Orange County Health Care Agency, and the Volunteers of America who specialize in assisting homeless veterans. H.E.A.R.T. assisted them with acquiring food, showers, clothing, hygiene kits, medical attention, government documents, information on detox programs, and mental health services.
H.E.A.R.T. collaborates with The Beacon of Orange, who maintains funds to be used for the homeless Re-Unification Program and other homeless related needs. This fund is called the HEART Fund and is comprised of cash donations given by different churches and organizations associated with One Church in Orange. In 2024, the HEART Fund had not been replenished and due to the lack of funds, only one subject was reunified compared to the 12 individuals in 2023.
The individual who was reunified was a male Marine and Army veteran with 7 combined years of service. H.E.A.R.T. and H.O.S. were introduced to the individual after a call for service in the area of Cambridge St. and Chapman Ave. to help coordinate potential resources. The veteran recently arrived in the City of Orange after falling asleep on a bus leaving Oceanside and he became stranded in Orange County. The veteran previously lived in Oceanside, where he was placed in a transition housing project thanks to coordination by his local VA affiliate. The veteran was interested in returning home to Oceanside to be reconnected to his VA care team in the Oceanside area. The H.O.S. team assisted the veteran and purchased a bus ticket to Oceanside. H.E.A.R.T. transported the individual to the Hub OC so he could eat breakfast and wait for his departure time. The H.O.S. and H.E.A.R.T. teams then provided the veteran with transportation to the ARTIC station in Anaheim and waited with him until his bus arrived to ensure his safety. The veteran thanked both units and successfully boarded the bus back to his care team in Oceanside.
The HUB OC continues to be well known in the community. H.E.A.R.T. and HOS contacted hundreds of individuals from Orange and surrounding Orange County Cities (primarily from Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Fullerton, Buena Park), states (New York, Washington, Texas, and New Mexico) and countries (Mexico and China). H.E.A.R.T. and H.O.S. continue to work with the HUB OC to provide these individuals with the most applicable resources needed for each specific individual.
Numerous individuals continue to loiter outside of the Hub OC location and along the curb. While there are no laws prohibiting loitering, these individuals have been contacted for smoking marijuana, drinking alcohol, public urination, blocking the roadway with their personal belongings, parking illegally and have warrants. In July of 2024, the Hub OC staff changed the facilities operational hours by opening and closing two hours earlier (7:00am – 1:00pm). This change has made a noticeable improvement to the number of individuals who loiter. Additionally, 3-hour vehicle parking and no overnight parking signs were placed along Struck Ave. to prevent loitering concerns. Approximately 37 citations were issued since July 2024.
The Bike Team and H.E.A.R.T. continue to maintain a working relationship with California Highway Patrol (C.H.P.) and Caltrans for state-related properties in and around the City. C.H.P. has supplemented the teams and helped with outreach and law enforcement along freeway ramps, underpasses, and non-state-related properties throughout the City. They also removed abandoned encampments, trash, and graffiti from multiple areas. Multiple arrests were made for trespassing, drugs, drug paraphernalia and warrants. During 2024, the Bike Team, H.E.A.R.T., and H.O.S. 4 participated in several multi-organizational outreach and cleanups. These cleanups took place in January, April, May, August, and September. Additionally, the Bike Team, H.E.A.R.T. and C.H.P. assist each other with suspect identification and additional support for safe operations.
The Bike Team, H.E.A.R.T., and C.H.P. continue to enforce trespassing laws along Santiago Creek between E. Chapman Ave. to the SR 22 freeway under pass. Most of the subjects located along the areas of Santiago Creek are trespassers/repeat offenders who abuse illicit narcotics, illegally lodge, conduct vandalism, and are responsible for various thefts throughout the city. The H.O.S. team provided outreach and resources to multiple individuals with opportunities to go to a shelter. Some were receptive to the resources, but the majority were not willing to go to a shelter. The Bike Team and H.E.A.R.T. made approximately 257 arrests for a variety of offensives including trespassing in the area of the Santiago Creek. This was a 32% decrease from 2023. Bike Team personnel attribute the decrease in arrests to their increased focus in the area and deterrent for subjects who frequent the area. See chart below for a breakdown of major arrest locations which shows 226 arrests out of the 257 arrests. The other 31 arrests in the Santiago Creek were made in less significant areas.
In late 2024, a new Orange Municipal Code (OMC) bicycle law was introduced regarding subjects dismantling and being in possession of multiple bicycle frames and parts while inside a City park. The Bike Team regularly uses this section as a tool to contact repeat offenders and investigate other criminal activities.
During 2024, H.E.A.R.T. and H.O.S. participated in the Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, a count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single day in January. This count occurs for unsheltered people experiencing homelessness every other year though the entire county and is completed with outside agencies and volunteers. The 2024 PIT Count showed 214 unsheltered individuals and 155 sheltered individuals in the City of Orange. H.E.A.R.T. believes the 214 unsheltered individuals are inflated due to Orange being a location which draws homeless subjects for a variety of reasons: hospitals, Be Well, the Hub OC, feeling of safety, cleanliness of parks, proximity of the Santiago Creek, and Santa Ana River. H.E.A.R.T. estimates 40 to 60 subjects go to the Hub OC daily and more when additional resources such as medical services are on-site. Overall, California and all the Orange County Service Planning Areas experienced an increase in the number of homeless individuals from the previous PIT Count in 2022 which was 134 unsheltered for the City of Orange. 1053355191420345372320050100150200250Santiago Creek & 22FWYSantiago Creek & E.Chapman AveSantiago Creek & 55FWYSantiago Creek &Cambridge St.Santiago Creek &Main St.Number of Arrests Along the Santiago Creek20242023 5 H.E.A.R.T. has remained up to date with changes in trespassing laws regarding Senate Bill 602 which requires a “request for a peace officer’s assistance, made in a notarized writing on a form provided by the law enforcement agency, may be made to cover a limited period of time not to exceed a time period determined by local ordinance or 12 months.” H.E.A.R.T. with the City Attorney’s Office has created an updated Trespassing and Illegal Lodging Enforcement Letter for businesses suffering from habitual trespassers or illegal lodging. Due to the additional requirements for business owners to have a notary to sign the illegal lodging letter, the number of PC 647(e) – Illegal Lodging arrests went from 107 in 2023 to 30 in 2024, a 72% decrease. H.E.A.R.T. continues to update the current trespassing letter database to be incompliance with SB 602 and illegal lodging arrests are expected to rise.
To help address habitual homelessness in the Santiago Creek under Glassell St. and the 22 Freeway, Hart Park was expanded from Glassell St. to the edge of the Orange/Santa Ana border near the 22 Freeway. In June, Community Services placed new signs in the area to assist with any necessary enforcement. The Bike Team had 55 arrests in that specific area related to camping, trespassing, narcotics possession and subjects with arrest warrants. Additionally, Grants Pass v. Johnson overturned the Martin v. City of Boise 9th Circuit which now allows California agencies to conduct more camping enforcement in public locations. H.E.A.R.T. has maintained an outreach approach while enforcing OMC violations for repeat offenders. A total of 67 subjects were arrested in 2024 for violation of OMC camping compared to 1 subject in 2023.
In accordance with the OMC and the California Vehicle Code (CVC), H.E.A.R.T. conducted outreach and enforcement for homeless subjects living in recreational vehicles throughout the city. H.E.A.R.T. received citizen complaints reference these vehicles congregating in the lots and dumping feces and urine along the pavement and grass areas. H.E.A.R.T. continues to offer outreach services, education of city ordinances, and follow-up with enforcement activity. H.E.A.R.T. used various enforcement methods to gain compliance through citations, OMC abandoned vehicle notices, and vehicle removal through CVC tow authorizations.
In the beginning of the year, the Bike Team, H.E.A.R.T., Public Works, and volunteers assisted with monthly clean ups in the Santiago Creek due to the multiple encampments which results in littering, graffiti, illegal dumping and degradation of the area. The Bike Team and H.E.A.R.T. contacted multiple people in the Santiago Creek, which allowed Public Works and other volunteers to clear the area. Additionally, H.E.A.R.T. has established a collaborative relationship with Public Works due to multiple clean-up operations throughout the year. This relationship has assisted both Public Works and H.E.A.R.T. with removing more illegal encampments and abandoned property.
H.E.A.R.T. continues to collaborate with other Orange County Agencies’ Homeless Liaison Officers (HLO) from Anaheim, Tustin, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Buena Park, Brea, Placentia, Fullerton, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Irvine and Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
H.E.A.R.T. and H.O.S. have participated in multiple training courses and networking opportunities throughout the year.
In collaboration with its many public and private partners, H.E.A.R.T., Bike Team, and H.O.S. continue to build partnerships and take action regarding any homeless-related activities to reduce homelessness in the City of Orange.