San Jose police recover $15,000 in stolen tools from encampment on New Year’s Eve
San Jose police said a raid on an encampment on New Year’s Eve uncovered $15,000 worth of stolen tools.
City leaders say it’s proof that the new neighborhood livability unit is working.
Police recovered and returned thousands of dollars in stolen tools from a San Martin plumber and arrested everyone involved.
“This is just a great example of the work we wanted our Neighborhood Quality of Life Unit to do,” said Mayor Matt Mahan.
The newest unit was a priority for Mahan, a way to proactively enforce the city’s code of conduct to combat, among other things, the growing number of homeless encampments across the city.
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An important role of the Neighborhood Lifestyle Unit is to enforce strict “no-encampment” zones throughout the city – including one at Maybury Road on Highway 101, where the search took place.
“In this case, the team came across a cache of stolen equipment,” Mahan said. “Being homeless is not a crime, but we expect people to accept shelter and shelter services when they are available. And when they are not, to at least follow our basic laws.”
Unhoused’s attorney, Shaunn Cartwright, said the arrest highlights the larger problem of criminal street gangs using encampments as a kind of front to commit crimes.
Although she doesn’t yet know who is at fault, she says the announcement could mean the city is wrongly blaming the homeless.
“The city needs to decide: Are the unhoused people all mental patients with drug addictions and no courage, or are they criminal masterminds?” » Cartwright said.
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