Here’s what Bellingham police say property owners should do about encampments on their land
An ongoing lawsuit against a Bellingham property owner with a homeless encampment on his land raises questions about what property owners must do if people move onto their land without permission.
Here’s what the city and police say:
1. Property owners are responsible for cleaning up camps on private property.
If you own land where an encampment is established, you are responsible for reporting the encampment to the police, filing a complaint and hiring a clean-up team to remove it.
Once the camp is reported, it is scheduled for outreach by the city of Bellingham’s Homeless Outreach Team, which will work to connect the people there with available resources, according to the city’s website.
Bellingham’s Opportunity Council and Lighthouse Mission Ministries also offer outreach and support services.
2. Police response varies depending on the number of people illegally on the property.
If only one person is reported trespassing, police will respond, ask the person to leave and issue a notice of trespass. If the person returns, they can be cited for second-degree trespassing.
If the person refuses to leave, they can be issued a citation and taken into custody, according to Bellingham Police Lt. Claudia Murphy. Though she said arrests don’t happen often.
However, if there are dozens of people reported in an encampment trespassing on private property, police won’t just show up to the property to remove them.
“Patrol cannot go there, trespass all the folks and then leave,” Murphy said in an email to The Bellingham Herald. “Most will just return to the encampment and stay until the next 911 call.”
Instead, police will assist in a coordinated effort to remove the encampment with a cleanup company and the landowner. Additional law enforcement staffing can be hired by the landowner on an overtime basis to coordinate the cleanup, Murphy told The Herald.
3. There are other steps property owners can take to prevent encampments from forming on their land.
Signage and security are recommended to encourage people to stay off the property, according to Murphy.
“We recommend the landowner posts their property with ‘no trespassing’ signs and posts that violators will be reported,” Murphy said.
Police will also help secure the property during coordinated cleanups, Murphy told The Herald.
The Bellingham Police Department does not recommend property owners forcibly remove people on their own, due to safety concerns. Property owners are, however, allowed to remove items, trash, garbage and structures, “as it is their land,” Murphy said.
