Michelle Milam, crime prevention manager with the Richmond Police Department, led a presentation about encampments and how the City of Richmond applies its camping ordinance to public-right-of-way encampments.

Milam said the city relies on two main data sources to understand homelessness locally: the federal point-in-time count and the county-coordinated outreach database maintained by CORE (the coordinated outreach and engagement team). She said CORE made 1,490 unduplicated contacts with people who were unhoused in Richmond in 2024, and that CORE logged 4,804 total contacts during its outreach, with 129 of the contacts recorded as families.

How abatement works: Milam said the municipal camping ordinance requires that, before the city abates an encampment on public property, staff must offer shelter services to the people present. If an encampment is to be cleared, the city typically posts notice and gives occupants 72 hours to accept services or move before abatement; the same 72-hour timeline generally applies to vehicles, which are red-tagged and must be moved within that period or risk towing.

Legal and practical limits: Milam addressed questions about state and federal court rulings. She said Richmond follows its municipal code and that even where courts or state statements suggest broader enforcement authority, the city’s ordinance — including the requirement to offer services before abatement — guides local practice. She also noted a “necessity” defense can create legal risk for abatements if the city cannot show it offered reasonable shelter alternatives.

Capacity constraints and local programs: Milam said countywide shelter capacity is insufficient to meet need and listed a series of constrained bed and program resources reported by county partners, which leaves the city unable to move all encampment residents into shelter immediately. The city is pursuing several grants and projects to expand options: Milam said Richmond won a Homekey grant to convert the Motel 6 at Civic Center Plaza into 48 permanent supportive housing units, and the city is using state encampment-resolution grants to move people into shared or supportive housing — she said the city is transitioning roughly 100 people under a current grant and has additional grant rounds planned.

Pilots and alternatives: Milam described local efforts including permitting for a tiny-home village for people ages 18–24, and said proposals for widespread safe-parking programs have encountered neighborhood opposition. She urged neighbors to report encampments with as much location detail as possible and to note whether the site is public or private; private-property situations are handled through the property owner and code enforcement rather than the camping ordinance.

Special jurisdictions: For encampments on Caltrans right-of-way, Milam advised filing a Caltrans customer service report (CSR) so Caltrans can track and resolve the site; the city meets regularly with Caltrans. She also said railroad companies (BNSF, Union Pacific) have their own abatement procedures and the city seeks coordination with them.

Repeat encampments: Milam acknowledged repeat returns are frustrating for neighbors: if an encampment is cleared and occupants return, the city must generally restart the posting-and-notice process unless there is an imminent safety threat. She said securing property is often a practical step to prevent repeated occupation.

Why it matters: Milam said there is no single solution and that the city needs emergency shelter, more permanent supportive housing, behavioral-health services and other diverse strategies to reduce encampments sustainably. She invited neighborhood groups to follow the city’s unhoused-intervention plan and the homeless task force, which meets monthly.

The meeting then closed the encampments discussion and moved to other community business.