Austin crews are expected to continue encampment cleanups through November 8.

AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin woman is pointing fingers at the city of Austin and Austin Police for how they’re handling cleanup efforts at homeless encampments.

City crews have been making their rounds clearing out homeless encampments across the city as part of an initiative launched this week to relocate people before extreme weather hits. 

On Friday, crews were out clearing a camp near the Northern Walnut Creek trail behind Austin Community College’s (ACC) Northridge campus. Austin Police officers were also on site. 

Noel Findley who was there picking up her personal belongings said she woke up to crews bulldozing the area. She said she officials gave them a verbal notice a couple of weeks back, but did not tell them when it would happen. 

Findley noted she was recently in the hospital. 

“I didn’t know; they didn’t staple any notices to trees,” said Findley. “There was no way for me to know what was going on.”

According to the city of Austin, outreach at the camp site started back in June and verbal and written notices were given the week of Oct. 6. about the upcoming cleanup.

Findley also said while collecting her personal items, she had an encounter with an APD officer where she claims he was rude to her and warned her about getting a ticket for camping and possibly taking her to jail.

APD said handing out citations are not the primary approach and enforcement actions are focused on connecting people with resources and making sure people are safe during cleanup efforts.

Officials added that if officers find someone who is camping illegally in an area being cleaned, they can be issued a citation for violating local and state camping laws. However, the goal is to give people the opportunity to leave on their own.

The city noted that a several dozen of people were moved into shelters last week. Officials are still working to collect data about how many camps have been cleared so far. 

Findley said she is more than just her situation and hopes for more compassion from crews and police at camps. 

“I mean, I’m not a bum. I want to work, you know, it’s just… life happens,” said Findley.

In a statement, the city of Austin wrote:

“The City of Austin remains committed to conducting outreach with compassion and transparency, connecting individuals to available services and ensuring public health and safety during cleanup operations.”

In a separate incident at the camp site, Findley had mentioned what she described as a raid by law enforcement officials that led to arrests last month. 

KVUE reached out to DPS about it. Officials confirmed on Sept. 11, troopers responded to the encampment where 10 people were arrested for several charges, including felon in possession of a firearm, copper theft, possession of a controlled substance and illegal dumping.

DPS also seized methamphetamine and fentanyl, along with other drugs and drug paraphernalia that were reportedly on site.

Those who were not taken into custody were asked to leave and given information for resources. 

In a statement, officials wrote:

“The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has a duty to protect the people and property of Texas, which includes enforcing laws, like HB 1925, that keep everyone in our communities safe.”