TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Paul Tomeh is a business owner in Tucson. He said he often has to deal with the houseless community using fentanyl and drugs around his business.
“They’ll go behind the building. Smoking it on a piece of aluminum and you’re sitting there kicking them out all day. Every day there is an issue,” Tomeh said.
He said the City should be responding to issues involving the houseless community quicker and said the Tucson Police Department is underfunded. He said he believes that could be why there’s not enough officers to respond to crimes around his business.
He said he doesn’t rely on the officers to help him resolve issues with the homeless and said he has to do it himself instead.
“More funding for the police, less worrisome about hey, we’re going to take these people and put them in houses. A lot of them don’t want to be in houses,” Tomeh suggested.
He said the City should be spending more money on stopping crime performed by the houseless community.
The Tucson Police Department said they’re hoping to reduce business related crimes and are working with business owners by removing encampments if there’s crime in them.
They said they’re also using their patrol division to respond to calls around businesses with encampments nearby and will follow up with that spot to see if any houseless people go back.
Lucia Vindiola is a Tucson resident and said TPD should have a bigger presence in the South and West sides of Tucson.
She said while they’re trying their best, she still notices a lot of homeless in Tucson.
“I think having more services available to them is a great way of trying to address the issue. That’s exactly what we need to do, is not take away programs but service them,” Vindiola said.
She said a lot of homeless people throughout Tucson makes it hard for TPD to follow up on non-violent crimes and said the City should look into what other services the houseless need.
“They are citizens as well. They’re human beings as well and they need help,” Vindiola said.
The City said their program is also focusing on helping businesses get their licenses with City and expanding businesses. They said they served about 400 business so far this year.
RELATED:
- City of Tucson orders some houseless people to relocate from their encampments
- City of Tucson launches new website to report homeless encampments
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
