LAKEPORT, Calif. — Lakeport Police officers and Lakeport Public Works staff on Wednesday removed a significant homeless encampment from public property.

The camp was located along the shoreline of Clear Lake, off the east side of the private properties of 1 First St. and 2 C St., said Police Chief Brad Rasmussen.

The persons using the encampment were trespassing across the private properties to gain access.

For approximately the past two years this location has been a regular site of camps and a source of concern for surrounding residential and commercial property owners for numerous reasons including safety, sanitary conditions and fire danger, Rasmussen said.

He said that in recent months several wildland fires have started in the area and caused threats for surrounding neighborhoods.

Officers surveyed the property and contacted the occupants numerous times over the past few months in efforts to mitigate the situation.

Police officers and their embedded crisis responder from Lake Family Resource Center worked with occupants to offer resources from the many agencies working on homelessness in Lake County.

On July 6, by Rasmussen’s direction, the property was ordered vacated, with written notices posted as well as personally served on occupants giving them sufficient time to remove their belongings.

On both July 6 and July 13, officers took crisis and outreach staff from Lake County Behavioral Health with them to offer additional resources for any persons remaining in the encampment. The written notices and removal times are required by federal court case law decisions.

Upon arrival at 7 a.m. Wednesday, three occupants were located in the camp. Rasmussen said the occupants were again offered and one did accept resources and transportation to a local homeless shelter. The person’s valuables which could not be transported to the shelter were secured and safeguarded.

The other two individuals declined resources and were ordered to vacate immediately or face arrest. They left the area without further incident, Rasmussen said.

A crew of 10 public works and police staff with necessary equipment proceeded to clean the camp and rehabilitate the area over the next nine hours. Rasmussen said this work included hauling off 75 yards of garbage totaling 22,360 pounds.

Rasmussen said that had this trash not been removed, when the Clear Lake water levels returned to full or higher, it would have entered the lake.

On Thursday, another 10-person crew rehabilitated the area to ensure it is safe and clean and to reduce fire danger.

In the future, Rasmussen said officers will conduct extra patrol of the area to ensure the encampment does not reestablish.

The cleanup process alone, not including all of the previous outreach, is estimated to have cost the public $15,000, he said.

Rasmussen said the removal of homeless camps from public property is complex. “When we take this action we want to be sure that the problem will not just move down the street to the next neighborhood or business district. For this reason we are very persistent with offering resources and assistance with connecting people to programs including those for housing, medical care, behavioral health and drug and alcohol addiction.”

He added, “The most significant reasons we see people being in a homeless situation are behavioral health and substance abuse problems. Many of the people causing issues for neighborhoods and businesses are people who refuse our assistance because they do not want to recognize or change their conditions.”

Additionally, Rasmussen said many of the tools his agency had used previously to deal with misdemeanor criminal behavior have been removed by voter or legislative initiatives.

“Much of this type of criminal behavior affects the lives of the residents and business owners and generally makes people feel unsafe or hesitant to use their public spaces or even being able to run their business,” he said.

“It is sometimes difficult for us to address this bad behavior but we want the community to know we continue to work hard every day to keep Lakeport safe,” Rasmussen said. “Please continue to contact us with your concerns.”