Four days into Mayor Mike Johnston’s new administration, city officials fielded angry complaints from a public weary of the steps being taken – or not – to address an incessant homeless crisis in downtown Denver.

Roughly 50 people on Thursday attended the monthly Community Advisory Group at Denver Police Department District 6 on Washington Street, where the attendees – downtown residents and business owners alike – peppered Denver Police officials with pointed questions about the strategy to reduce the homeless population, the “pause” on cleaning up large encampments and the number of citations handed out to homeless individuals.

“How many tickets have you written,” Keith Pryor asked police.

The short answer? It seldom happens.

Denver Police Sgt. Jamie Lucero told attendees that no citations had been issued in the past 30 days.

Police data shows police issued one citation since the first of the year and only one in all of 2022. Over the past decade, police have issued just 45 citations for unauthorized camping and four arrests.

There were at least 4,794 homeless people in Denver in January 2022, according to the most recent count. That’s up 44% from only five years prior. Around 27% (1,313) of the homeless population was unsheltered – meaning those who sleep in public places, such as on the street, in tents or in cars.

The city has poured significant resources into tackling homelessness, spending $152 million in 2022 and authorizing $254 million to address the problem in 2023. That 2023 spending translates to $53,000 per homeless person in Denver, based on the 2022 count. 

When then-Mayor Michael Hancock took office a dozen years ago, that spending stood at $8 million.  

During Thursday’s meeting, police division chief Aaron Sanchez said a city ordinance has tied the hands of police officers, with compliance the chief goal of the department.

“We don’t really have the ability to jail someone on the camp ban,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez added, “I ask you to be patient a little longer. We are only four days into the new administration.”

In his first official act as mayor, Johnston declared an emergency and outlined an aggressive response, promising to house 1,000 homeless residents by the end of the year. 

Johnston – who did not attend the public meeting Thursday – has described street homelessness as both a human rights and public health issue and as a challenge for the city’s economic development plans.

During the campaign, the former state legislator pledged to end homelessness by the end of his first term as mayor. He promised to build 10-20 “micro communities,” with 1,400 additional housing units. These will include hotel conversions and small clusters of “tiny” homes. He said he would provide centralized “wrap-around” services in every “micro community” to connect residents with mental health and addiction treatment programs, as well as workforce training.

Officials attempted to dispel the public’s concerns at Thursday’s meeting.

“We’re not going to let encampments run rampant,” said Matthew Wilmes, who is assisting the Johnson administration with the city’s homeless response through the transition.

The crowd openly groaned and shouted in unison, as if anticipated, “You already are!”

Wilmes was the head of Denver’s homeless encampment response under Hancock.

The meeting offered yet another glimpse of the complexity of the crisis and impatience by members of the public who see no immediate end to Denver’s palpable homelessness problem.

Broadly speaking, advocates are divided between those who view homelessness as a function of the inequities of American society – they prefer an approach that emphasizes housing and social services – and critics who argue that allowing homeless people to remain in the streets is dangerous to them and debilitating to residents and businesses. The latter advocate for enforcing Denver’s camping ban, issuing citations and mandatory jail time for repeat offenders.  

In declaring a state of emergency in the city, Johnston embraced the “housing-first” approach to homelessness. “Housing first” programs seek to provide people with permanent housing, along with individualized social services. In contrast, alternative approaches, such as “treatment first” or “work first” models, typically require some to access treatment or be working – or at least to keep trying to find a job or receive job skills training – in order to receive housing beyond emergency shelter.

During the public meeting, a self-described homeless man, who identified himself only as Daniel, interrupted the discussion to thank God for helping him through his addiction.

“We can’t pray our way out of this mess,” a woman said as she left the meeting.