Thursday, December 27, 2007

Incident: Illegal Transient Camp Clean Up Report

Location: 19 locations throughout Newport

Date: December 11, thru December 14

Details: A Citywide cleanup of active and inactive illegal camp sites was conducted during the week of December 11th. Members of the Newport Police Department, Newport Public Works Department and hired workers collected 12,480 pounds of trash, debris and hazardous materials. 19 sites in all were located and cleaned up with eleven of them being active up to December 7th.

During the clean up, 28 used hypodermic needles were recovered and property disposed of; with the majority being found in the area south of SW 12th Street and in the wooded area about Bay Blvd. Three were found in the area south of Jump-Off-Joes, on the beach which is a tourist and local recreation area. Glass pipes used for smoking methamphetamine along with other drug related items were found in the ten of the 19 sites. Also found in two of the illegal camp sites were books from the Newport Library. They were ruined beyond repair or salvage from being left out in the rain and weather.

During the week of December 4th, members of the Newport Police Department visited all of the sites located on public lands and posted them, notifying that a clean up of the area would take place. During this time, twenty two transient-homeless people were contacted. 18 were male and four female. There were no children. These individuals were provided with information on available resources in Lincoln County. In addition, Det. Ken Real, the project coordinator, was able to locate housing for two families.

The cost of this project totaled $2137.05 which included disposal fees and the use of temporary workers.

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Information Released By: Chief Mark J. Miranda, 541-574-3348

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