{"id":578,"date":"2025-10-13T21:50:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T21:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/578\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T21:50:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T21:50:09","slug":"ocoee-steps-up-arrests-of-homeless-people-for-sleeping-outside-orlando-sentinel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/578\/","title":{"rendered":"Ocoee steps up arrests of homeless people for sleeping outside \u2013 Orlando Sentinel"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story is part of the News Collaborative of Central Florida, an initiative of independent local news outlets working toward a more informed and engaged Central Florida. It was originally published the West Orange Vox Populi<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u200dOne man was sleeping next to a\u00a0gas station. Another was dozing in the\u00a0grass behind a bus stop. Yet another was sacked out on a bench by Ocoee City Hall.<\/p>\n

They were among the five unhoused people, mainly white men in their mid-fifties, recently picked up by Ocoee Police for violating both the city\u2019s ordinance and the state law against camping on public property or on private property without permission.<\/p>\n

Ocoee Police appear to be stepping up arrests of people who are homeless. In the first eight months of 2025, after the punitive measures of the state-wide camping ban went into effect Jan. 1 \u2014 allowing any resident, business owner or the state attorney general to file a lawsuit against a municipality for not enforcing the ban \u2014 no arrests were made in Ocoee, according to a review of public records. Then, in a three-week span between Aug. 28 and Sept. 17, there were five, court records show.<\/p>\n

Asked what was driving the recent spate of arrests, the Ocoee Policeemailed VoxPopuli the following statement:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ocoee Police Department responds to calls for service based on complaints from the public and officer observations. Officers are trained to use discretion and prioritize outreach where possible. Arrests are generally a last resort and typically occur after attempts to offer services, issue warnings, or when there are repeated violations or accompanying criminal behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ocoee has had its own no-camping ordinance since 2001, prohibiting camping on \u201call public property in the City (sic)\u201d except as designated. That includes \u201cotherwise being in a temporary shelter out-of-doors\u201d and \u201cjust sleeping outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ocoee Police told VoxPopuli in an earlier email that \u201cIn each recent case, the individuals were previously warned multiple times and informed of available shelter options and support services, including resources from our Victim Advocate.\u201d<\/p>\n

In reviewing the arrest affidavits, VoxPopuli found that while four of the men arrested told officers they were aware of the ban, only two people had been specifically warned that if they were \u201ccaught camping within the City of Ocoee again, [they] would be subject to arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Rafael Gomez, 42, didn\u2019t appear to know about the ban. When officers approached him at 1:08 a.m. on Sept. 2, while he was sleeping on a bench outside of City Hall, his\u00a0affidavit\u00a0states that he told the officers that he had been \u201cstaying at that location for a couple of days without issue.\u201d The officers \u201ceducated\u201d him about the city\u2019s camping ban.<\/p>\n

The affidavit also indicates that Gomez, who is Black, alerted officers that he had a loaded Smith & Wesson firearm in his duffle bag when they approached him. Ocoee Dispatch informed the officers the gun was clean and Gomez had no felonies on his record. Police handcuffed him and took him to the county jail. He spent one day in jail and was assessed a $223 fine, which he has a year to pay.<\/p>\n

Asked why Gomez didn\u2019t get a warning about not camping on public property before he was arrested and taken to the county jail, Ocoee Police emailed VoxPopuli to reiterate, \u201cIn each recent case, the individuals were previously warned multiple times and informed of available shelter options and support services, including resources from our Victim Advocate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Housing advocates expressed concern about the uptick in arrests.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot here is not an answer, and it damn sure isn\u2019t a plan. You cannot arrest homelessness away,\u201d said Scott Billue, founder and CEO of Matthew\u2019s Hope, the homeless outreach ministry serving Orange and Brevard counties, by text on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe certainly knew that the state legislation was going to be encouraging jurisdictions to be more aggressive in arresting people who don\u2019t have a place to sleep. Unfortunately, we don\u2019t have enough shelter beds for everyone who needs them,\u201d Martha Are, CEO of Homeless Services Network, told VoxPopuli in a Monday phone interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of people who would go into shelter if there was a bed that would accommodate them and that could meet their special needs and circumstances,\u201d she continued. \u201cWe\u2019re concerned that this is going to continue to be a challenge for our region until we can identify enough sleeping accommodations for people. \u200aI think some jurisdictions believe that people either have to leave the jurisdiction or they have to be arrested.\u201d<\/p>\n

The anti-camping law was intended to motivate municipalities to construct additional shelters and transitional housing or create specific camping areas within city limits with security, restrooms, sanitation and mental health and substance abuse services and safety and supervision standards that comply with the Department of Children and Family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose opportunities take time,\u201d Are noted, adding that the funding \u2014 $30 million for organizations across the state that provide services to people who are homeless \u2014 was not renewed for the current fiscal year.<\/p>\n

Opportunities also take political will and community buy-in \u2014 neither of which is in large supply. Earlier this year when the City of Orlando attempted to convert a vacant building into a 300-bed shelter, the SoDo community backlash was fierce enough to shut the project down.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, homeless advocate Eric Gray told VoxPopuli that he was \u201cglad to see that Ocoee is paying attention to homelessness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate that this is how they\u2019re having to pay attention to it because we don\u2019t see really any activity from the city of Ocoee on the issue of homelessness at all,\u201d said the executive director of the Christian Service Center, which runs the Daily Bread soup kitchen and food pantry in Ocoee and a 42-bed shelter in Orlando. \u201cBut I think they\u2019re going to learn pretty fast that they can\u2019t arrest their way out of this problem. They\u2019re gonna have to develop resources for people in their community. They\u2019re gonna have to come to grips with the size and scope of the problem that is not just a handful of individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cArresting people, does not do anything to decrease homelessness in our community, and it does not speed up anyone\u2019s transition back into permanent housing,\u201d Are said. \u201cEven though at times jurisdictions feel like they have no other options, that does not mean that that\u2019s a good option or an effective option.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said that although it\u2019s costly and time consuming, the solution is building shelters and housing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what has to happen for us to effectively address the entire community\u2019s concern and desire that we not have people sleeping outside,\u201d Are said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story is part of the News Collaborative of Central Florida, an initiative of independent local news outlets…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[967,266,115,139,141,140,109],"class_list":{"0":"post-578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-homeless-crisis-in-central-florida","9":"tag-local-news","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-orlando","12":"tag-orlando-headlines","13":"tag-orlando-news","14":"tag-social"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}