• Action Taken Against Crime Committed By Homeless

The city of Lake Elsinore is acting against the growing problem of homeless encampments. 

Below is the press release issued by the RSO of LE.

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Press Release - Trespassing Enforcement

City of Lake Elsinore Police

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On June 23, 2018, in an ongoing effort to reduce chronic trespassing and crimes associated with members of the homeless community, as well as to provide assistance to those in need, Lake Elsinore Police and Code Enforcement officers, along with Mayor Natasha Johnson, conducted a trespass enforcement operation in and around areas of the city most affected by these crimes. 

A total of 17 homeless camps were visited, resulting in 33 people being arrested and transported to the Riverside County's Cois Byrd Detention Center. 

The arrests were made for the following crimes:

2 drug related charges
8 arrest warrant services
19 trespassing charges
2 vehicles impounded

In addition, 2 people were connected with services to assist with chemical dependency. 15 people were provided information for services to assist with home placement, of which 2 accepted. Due in part to the success of the sweep, and its positive impact on public safety and the overall quality of life of those who live in the community, further sweeps will be conducted in the future if needed.

Citizens may also submit a tip using the Sheriff's CrimeTips online form.

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Link to original press release on facebook

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UPDATE

This story was reported on KFI's Wake Up Call program, Monday, June 25th in the five o'clock hour

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I'm certain that the city government of Wildomar is very concerned about the issues that homeless encampments have brought to the area. The thing is, we the people, have no idea what's being done. 

Please tell us how long until we can send out our Wildomar police (which is the same group out of the Lake Elsinore station) to do similar work here. We are all very interested in how things stand in this regard.

Visit the website to learn more

It would sure be nice if the city would finally pull the trigger on getting Wildomar its own social media presence, and one that will update the people on a regular basis on issues that deal with public safety such as this, and also more routine items that we care about too.

Until such time, consider emailing the city council members. Just remember to NEVER CC when writing to city hall. If you want responses, spell it out and send individual emails. 

District 1) Ben Benoit, Mayor
bbenoit@cityofwildomar.org   
District 5) Marsha Swanson, Mayor Pro-Tem
mswanson@cityofwildomar.org
District 4) Bridgette Moore 
bmoore@cityofwildomar.org
District 2) Dustin Nigg 
dnigg@cityofwildomar.org
District 3) Tim Walker 
twalker@cityofwildomar.org

This is from the city website, but I made the numbers about 100 times bigger than what they have over there. I also didn't see an interactive map that would allow you to enter your address if you weren't sure which district you're in, or if the map is too small to read properly.

You can also try calling city hall and asking staff when such an ordinance is going to be put into effect: 951-677-7751
Just skip the answering machine mishmash and attempt to talk to a real person if someone answers. 

•     •     •     •     •

I took the following photos on Friday, June 15th. 

Location: the no man's land just north of Clinton Keith and just west of Hidden Springs Rd where ARCO is.

A ton of garbage is out of general view, hidden by the overgrowth.

If you've ever wondered where that stairway went, this assortment of junk was on the first landing.

This guy passed me on the road as I was heading to the corner of Clinton Keith and Hidden Springs. About five minutes later he was down at the bottom about to enter the encampment.

This collection of stolen shopping carts were about 100 yards away from me as I used a telephoto lens.