PASCO, Wash. — The City of Pasco adopted a new municipal code on June 17, prohibiting individuals from sitting or lying on sidewalks in specific areas.
Municipal Code 9.80.035 prevents individuals from sitting between the hours of 6 a.m. and midnight. According to Pasco Police Department’s PIO, Lieutenant Thomas Groom, the new municipal code will affect the area between West Lewis Street, from North Tacoma Street and North 10th Avenue.
Owner of Rosie’s Hair Salon, Rocio Inzunza, fears that the homelessness in the area is affecting her business on West Lewis Street.
Inzunza said when she opens her store in the mornings, she finds trash and food lining the sidewalks. Sometimes she will even find people sleeping by her door. She hopes that the new law might help her and other business owners.
“You know it’s very frustrating because, we called the cops and they said that they cannot ask him to leave. But if that’s going to be a new law, I mean, definitely it’s going to help us a lot,” said Inzunza.
Jazmyn Clark, the Smart Justice Policy Program Director at the ACLU of Washington says the new ordinance hurts people more than helps them.
“Any ordinance which explicitly or implicitly targets people experiencing homelessness or has a disproportionate effect on people experiencing homelessness is ultimately hurting people,” says Clark.
Pasco Police plan on educating residents about the law starting July 1. The week after, police say they will begin issuing citations and arrests.
This comes as the US Supreme Court issues a decision allowing cities to ticket people for sleeping in the streets.
