COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The City of Colorado Springs wants to expand the police department's Homeless Outreach Team (HOT).
The HOT team now has two more officers for the program after the positions were approved in the new city budget.
On Monday, the HOT team's supervisor, Sgt. Olav Chaney, said the team arrested several trespassers under the South Nevada Bridge.
"Out of 15 people who were trespassing, seven went to jail," Chaney said.
The City's cleanup team removed several piles of trash from illegal campsites, including dozens of shopping carts.
Chaney says seeing crimes like illegal drug activities and homicides is common at campsites, and it's challenging to cover those crimes with limited officers.
"We have two additional officers for the team. It will be helpful as we start managing sending officers to two or three locations at a time," Chaney said.
Local recovery coach Skyler O'Neill says guiding people experiencing homelessness to available resources is necessary.
"Bringing recovery to these individuals, even just an option of recovery... bringing to where they are at, I think it's crucial," O'Neill said.
Chaney says that's what the HOT team wants to do every day: help people escape homelessness.
"Get their life back in order and move forward towards jobs and housing; that's the biggest goal," Chaney said.
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