SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A judge at the Sacramento County courthouse is calling for more police presence around their facilities due to the homeless issue.
"These daily incidents include, but are not limited to, physical and verbal assault, public sex acts, open fires, nudity, urinating and defecating on walkways. Court security removes unsheltered individuals, who have no business with the court, from the Main Courthouse daily and our facilities team must regularly remove feces and other waste from our entryways and grounds," said presiding Judge Michael G. Bowman in the letter.
In the letter, Bowman said the encounters happen between the homeless and their employees, as well as the people appearing in their courtrooms.
His message was delivered via email in a letter addressed to Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and members of the city council. He called attention to the "disheartening conditions" surrounding the court's facilities in downtown Sacramento.
Bowman said there is concern that those conditions prevent access to justice.
"When coming to court is a trial itself for victims, witnesses or even jurors - access to justice is threatened. So, too, is public service when our employees' fear for their own safety prevents them from leaving our buildings to go for a walk or supporting local businesses by having lunch with a colleague or shopping the farmers market," Bowman wrote.
He called for an increase in police presence near the downtown court locations, jury and employee parking lots and enforcement on code violations. He added that he hopes the homeless population near the court can be connected with the services they need.
A spokesperson for the mayor confirmed they received the letter from the judge. In response to it, the mayor said the following:
"Judge Bowman is right to be upset. The City of Sacramento is adding more safe camping spaces at Miller Park in July and continuing to push for more. We must be able to bring people from the sidewalk into safer spaces to connect them with the services they need while providing the relief that our streets and neighborhoods deserve. Downtown and around the Court will be first in line for these new spaces and for cleaning up in the next several weeks."
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