San Diego has launched a one-year agreement with Caltrans, allowing city police to clear homeless encampments along downtown freeway corridors. In return, the state will reimburse the city up to $400,000 for cleanup and shelter efforts. The deal marks a significant shift in collaboration between city and state authorities, aligning them on enforcement-led homelessness strategies.
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New Authority for SDPD
The agreement grants San Diego Police Department officers the authority to enforce removals along a five-mile stretch of state freeways covering Little Italy, East Village, Sherman Heights, and Barrio Logan. Officers can act under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s model policy, which allows for warnings, citations, or arrests if individuals repeatedly reject shelter options. Mayor Todd Gloria called it a necessary expansion of the city’s enforcement tools.
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Funding and Pilot Scope
Caltrans will cover up to $400,000 in city costs over the course of the one-year pilot. This funding will go toward cleaning up encampments and providing shelter outreach near state-managed freeway property. Previously, San Diego lacked jurisdiction over these areas, limiting its ability to respond to rising encampment activity there.
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Three-Strike Policy in Action
San Diego’s approach will mirror its existing unsafe camping ordinance, which was passed in 2023. The three-strike system allows officers to escalate from a warning to a citation to an arrest, each time offering a shelter bed. Since implementation, around 300 tickets or arrests have been made, though the city attorney declined to prosecute 96% of them, according to the Union-Tribune.
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Sharp Drop Downtown
Homelessness in downtown San Diego has declined significantly since the ordinance took effect, falling from 2,104 in May 2023 to 756 last month, the lowest count since April 2021, based on monthly figures from the Downtown San Diego Partnership. By contrast, homelessness countywide dropped modestly, from 10,264 to 9,905 during the same period.
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State Land Sees Rise
With fewer tents downtown, encampments have increasingly shifted to freeway-adjacent state land, outside city enforcement reach. This displacement fueled public frustration and led Mayor Gloria to confront the state in his State of the City address, demanding clearance rights and reimbursement. The new deal meets both demands. Meanwhile, Encinitas Sen. Catherine Blakespear introduced a bill to require the state to clear encampments on its own properties.
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Shared Focus on Enforcement
The new partnership reflects a growing alignment between city and state leaders in using law enforcement as a tool to address homelessness. Officials argue that while services are essential, enforcement ensures people accept shelter and public spaces remain accessible.
