City officials in Oakland, California have shut down over 500 homeless encampments in the past three years. However, this crackdown has caused blowback from some residents. 

During the city council’s May 28 "Life Enrichment Committee" meeting, one speaker addressed the city’s encampment management.

"When we speak, y'all don't look at us? When we speak, when we tell you what’s happening at these places, it don’t matter," a gentleman speaking at the podium said.

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Oakland officials passed a policy in 2020 to regulate homeless encampments when there were about 140 camps. The policy was created to prohibit encampments in specific areas of the city, including proximity to businesses, schools, playgrounds, traffic lanes, bike paths, housing and playgrounds. 

Any encampments in those prohibited areas were supposed to be vacated, with the city offering shelter before evacuating the camp.

Since then, the city has closed 537 homeless camps with approximately 1,500 remaining, according to a city report. 

But as Oakland makes efforts to address the issue, advocates complain about the treatment of the homeless population and how the city has yet to fix the problem.

One of the speakers said Oakland officials need to set up a homeless protection board. She raised concern that the police and residents are violating the rights of the homeless.

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"Oakland is known for its tenant protections. I suggest a solution to this, because of the statistics that were shown today, is to provide the same protections in law to the homeless residents in Oakland," she said. "They have a place where they can go to report. They have a place where they can go to get the law so they can know how is their property is supposed to be taken care of."

Another speaker said that forced evictions are a "violation of human rights."

"Invest in solutions. The city has a duty to provide access to restrooms, fresh collections, and proper sanitation facilities for all residents, including those living in encampments," the speaker said.

"Stop criminalizing homelessness," she added.

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A woman stood up at the podium raising concern over the council’s emphasis on clearing the camps.

"If we’re focused on encampment evictions and management, we’re not actually focused on human beings," she said.