Chief Mills, blogger

Allow us to direct your attention to the latest blog entry from Eureka Police Chief Andy Mills, in which he waxes philosophical with a Hebrew Proverb before diving into the latest hard data on our fair city’s homelessness issues. 

The drudgery of dealing with the homeless population day-in, day-out can be tough on officers, Mills says, though he quickly injects some optimism into this weariness: “There is progress to report,” he writes (emphasis in original). “Eurekans need to know all of our efforts are paying off … albeit slowly.”

We’re still in the early days of the recently repurposed Multiple Assistance Center, a joint county-city-nonprofit venture that now serves as a rapid-rehousing facility for the most at-risk and chronically homeless people in the community. 

Mills reports that, as of late last month, 49 people have entered the “MAC,” all but two of which were from Eureka. Fourteen of those folks have been housed and nine have found employment. Twenty-one, meanwhile, have left for one reason or another, according to Mills. All of those numbers are likely higher now, nearly a month since the last figures were released.

Mills also drops some interesting stats on crime among the homeless. Seventy-two percent of the EPD’s arrests for “serious violent crimes” was committed by the transient population, he reports. Meanwhile, nearly 90 percent of robbery arrests were committed against transient people. 

Mills goes on to address the recently announced plan to condense Eureka’s homeless population into the Palco Marsh, saying “By condensing the population into a fairly large but controllable area it allows the police to treat it as a ‘hot spot.’ … Now the big trick…do this compassionately.”

Read the whole thing here.

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