Oregon homeless day center temporary closed after police were called 1,300 times for 'nuisance' crimes

On Friday, the Saint Vincent de Paul homeless day center on West 3rd St. in The Dalles, Oregon, was temporarily closed after the city claimed it was creating a "public nuisance" after police were called to the site 1,300 times in the last year.  

According to KGW 8, a city ordinance requires businesses to be responsible for what happens within 300 feet of their building. For the day center, that area is a popular spot for homeless people to lay their tents and had been the site of 34 arrests.  

One resident, Cameron Larsen told the outlet, "It’s way out of control these days.” He continued, "There are feces everywhere. I try to walk my dogs every day, and I have to pull him away from it. We’ve had people in our house. I’ve been attacked. There’s screaming all night; we’ve heard women being raped in the alley."  

He said he had to call the police on many different occasions.  

“Hundreds of times a year, I call them.” Larsen said, "I’m not cold-hearted. I don’t want to see people suffer, but it shouldn’t be in a neighborhood. There needs to be some sort of balance." 

One woman said she had someone break into her home at 10 a.m. and stay there all day until they got home from work. "There are times that we are literally trapped on our little cul-de-sac street here… instead of it being a paradise for us and our children, this is a hell," she added.  

According to Saint Vincent de Paul’s website, the "Ministry building provides access to bathrooms, showers, and laundry—a means to allow our homeless citizens the ability to raise their dignity with simple hygiene and clean clothes." They add that the "facility is also utilized by other agencies that reach out to those struggling with mental illnesses and addiction to provide opportunities to those wanting a better life for themselves. In addition, our facility has offered the only winter shelter in The Dalles for over ten years." 

It added that they had requested mediation with the city "so that a mutually agreeable plan could be worked out," but the city denied the request.  

The Dalles city manager Matthew Klebes said, "The plan that they submitted was reviewed by our chief of police and was found to lack concrete action." He added, "There were a lot of 'we could do this; we could possibly do this; we wanted to see definite action a concrete progress moving forward." 

Saint Vincent de Paul said that closing was necessary for them to negotiate with the city, while hopefully avoiding a costly legal trial which the city has paused to sit down with the organization.  

Saint Vincent de Paul also runs a thrift store and food pantry a couple of streets away that will remain operational, its statement said.