Federal and city officials have reportedly pledged to eliminate rampant homeless encampments in the nation’s capital by the end of next year.
After years of proliferation of homeless tents across Washington, DC, the National Park Service (NPS) will play a crucial role in getting rid of them over the next 12 months, according to The Spectator. World.
The NPS has cleared homeless encampments in the city’s prominent McPherson Square and Scott Circle in the past month, and the federal agency also helped remove homeless people from the area outside Union Station earlier this year. before President Biden’s speech at the historic train and bus depot.
Such removals are reportedly part of a sprawling plan by NPS to enforce its “no camping rule” throughout Washington, D.C., which aims to remove all homeless encampments on national park land for the purposes of 2023.
DC MAYOR USES FEDERAL COVID-19 FUNDS ON SHELTER FOR HOMELESS PEOPLE WHO IDENTIFY AS LGBTQ+
After years of proliferation of homeless tents across Washington, DC, the National Park Service (NPS) will play a crucial role in getting rid of them over the next 12 months.
(Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images)
NPS will work with city social services to provide displaced DC homeless people with temporary and long-term housing, as well as treatment for drug addiction and mental health issues, according to The Spectator World.
NPS officials stoked the controversy when they removed a homeless encampment last week from Fort Reno Park in the affluent Tenleytown neighborhood of northwest Washington, DC, prompting accusations of “eviction” from detractors, depending on the medium
Locally, flyers have sprung up urging city residents to complain to the Rock Creek National Park Service, which has jurisdiction over the park, and to Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has sat in Congress since 1991 without right to vote.
POLICE ARREST MAN SUSPECTED OF STALKING AND MURDER OF HOMELESS IN NYC, DC
At the local level, leaflets surfaced urging city residents to complain to Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has sat in Congress since 1991 without being able to vote.
(Countess of Jemal via Getty Images)
“Park residents are being evacuated on just a week’s notice during hypothermia season as temperatures begin to plummet,” one flyer read. “Call Rock Creek Park NPS and Eleanor Holmes Norton and demand that this dangerous and inhumane eviction be stopped.”
CALIFORNIA OFFICIAL EXPLOITS LIBERAL LEADERS AFTER HOMELESS BUNKER DISCOVERY: THEY ‘DID THE BLIND EYE’
The NPS said the park had been closed following “numerous” reports of violence and criminal behavior, The Spectator World reported.
“The United States Park Police reported numerous cases of criminal activity and violence related to the camp at Fort Reno, and closing the camp allowed the NPS to ensure the safety of the general public and those who live in the camp,” said a spokesman.
Local flyers urged city residents to complain to the Rock Creek National Park Service about homeless cleanup from a park in Tenleytown, D.C.
(Desmond Austin-Miller/EyeEm via Getty Images)
“Social service organizations are working with two individuals to provide access to cold weather shelters until permanent housing is provided,” the NPS explained. “The other two individuals are working with additional social service organizations to receive long-term transitional housing.”
The NPS said they have received complaints about the homeless encampments in the park and the safety of the homeless who reside there. Local activists did not impede their efforts to clear the park last week, they said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Despite appearances, homelessness in Washington, DC, has decreased by 47% since 2016, according to The Economist.
