How to deal with the Homeless.

[mikelan6]

I've been having a rough past few days and wanted to share what's been going on with you all.

I'm the manager of a small commercial strip shopping center and when I arrived at the office on Wednesday, I saw that someone had left a half eaten burger as well as a container of fried rice all over the sidewalk. As I got closer to clean it, some of the tenants came out to tell me that a homeless person was in the area for the past few days and threw the food all over the place. After cleaning it up, I walked around the property to make sure that everything was secure. My heart jumped when I tried to open the door to a small meter room when I saw the homeless man sleeping in there that was kept closed by a cord. I immediately returned to my office to call my boss to ask what I should do. As I was instructed, I returned to the meter room only to find the man wearing only shorts and socks eating from an Entenman's cake box. I told him that he did not belong there, to please remove his things and to vacate the premises. His answer was to ask who the #e*(( I was. I told him again politely that he needed to leave and he began yelling profanities, which is when I got scared and walked back to my office to call the police. Unfortunately, he followed me and continued to yell profanities at me through the window. When he saw that I wasn't letting him in, he returned to the meter room.

When the police came, he was already wearing a shirt and shoes. The police started asking him questions and then told him he had an hour to pack his things and leave. He took a box, walked across the street to another shopping center and returned with a bicycle. He continued to pack his things. It's amazing how much stuff he had in that little room. He must have been living there for a few days. All the while as he packed his things, he was giving me looks as if he was going to get revenge on me for calling the police. The police stayed for a while, but then left and I returned to my office. After about an hour, he passed by the front of my office, again yelling profanities at me. After I was sure he had left, I went to lock the meter room - throwing into the dumpster some pillows and chair mattresses he had left. You can't imagine the stench in there.

Yesterday morning, I saw that the meter room door was again open. I don't know HOW he got in again as I'm the only one with the key. I called a locksmith who made some small changes to the lock. Coincidentally, a city inspector was passing by the area that afternoon and called me to advise that he had seen a homeless man in he afternoon shaving in front of one of the stores and that he told the man to remove himself from the premises.

This morning, I found his revenge on my door. He'd smeared beans all over my glass door, and the sidewalk right in front was full of rice, beans, doughnuts, a banana peel, and lots of salt. I again called the police who after a little while came over. These were different officers though, who told me that I couldn't do anything unless I actually caught the homeless man and called the police right then and there - when they would issue him a trespassing WARNING - and if they catch him another time, he'd be subject to arrest. Unfortunately, the police on Wednesday did not issue him any type of warning or report. The police did suggest I request a "watch order," which would have the police come around at night every once in a while, but if they caught the man, I'd have to go there in person to identify him so that they can give him that first warning. After cleaning the mess in front of my office, I walked around the property again only to find a black garbage bag and a suitcase full of clothes, which I threw in the dumpster. I can only imagine what he'll do when he finds his things missing.

On one hand, I feel really bad for the homeless person who is obviously mentally unstable, but I don't want him on my property either. Thanks for reading to my drama. It's all been bothering me to the point where I couldn't sleep well. Hopefully, he won't return and will get help elsewhere.

 

[aaronmckie]

Oh wow, I wish I could be of some help. In a couple of my management jobs I've had to deal with some of those issues, but nothing like what is going on with you.
My guess is he'll move along; I doubt he'll want the bother, just as you don't.
I'm sure the worst of it is behind you

 

[Becx N Gav]

This is horrible for you

It's an invasion of privacy (even though it isn't your house it's somewhere familiar that should be safe) and threatening.

I'm sorry for all the mess as well, it's the last thing you want to come to in the morning.

It's a shame the police can't do more.

I do feel sorry for people who are made homeless but sometimes they don't help themselves.

I hope this is the end of all the agro. I'm glad you could vent it here and get support

 

[Bell30012]

One night, I had a homeless guy that seemed to feel he had the "right" to sleep on the loading dock in the back of my office. After he got a little crazy when I asked him to leave, I called the men in blue. He got crazy with them but they gave him about 50,000 good reasons to not come back. I thought they killed him with that taser thing!

We have never seen him again.

 

[UrsulasShadow]

I do wish there were more systems in place to help the mentally ill...especially the homeless ones who tend to slip through the cracks, and won't/don't seek help.

 

[AnneR]

I work for an organization that help homeless individuals, specifically those with mental illness. Unfortunately, we face incredible hurdles, just yesterday we were informed of a pending 10% cut in funding for the current year. We will be lucky if we don't have to lay off staff.

In addition to utilizing police with someone's behavior is threatening, you could try local mental health programs, they may have specialized programs to help homeless individuals. I know we do.

Anne

 

[DaParkers]

Get some type of protection if you don't already have it. A gun, taser, bat, something...
Don't assume he's harmless. If you go to work alone, he could be waiting for you and attack you. I'm not trying to scare you, just warn you. You wouldn't believe some of the crimes that homeless men committ. Murder, rape, theft, etc.... I'm not saying to treat all homeless like suspects, BUT you should treat that one around your property like one. Be safe!

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

The situation is sad but do be careful. The homeless at times do pose a threat. I work in an ER and know all to well what can happen. Call the police and have the trespassing warrent issued. Good Luck.

 

[Whipperwhirl]

I don't think we can thow a blanket over homeless men saying they can commit horrible crimes - all people are capable of crime. The thing I have found really frightening is the number of homeless out there who are families -just trying to survive. OP this is a very scary situation for you - I would loose sleep also- HANG IN THERE - Whip.

 

[ericafny]

Have to throw my two sense in here because I have some personal experience with this as well. Some homeless people choose to live that way. They may have families that care about them, offer them shelter, money, clothes, etc, but because of their mental illness they do not want to live in mainstream society. I think you are doing all the right things. Try to protect yourself as best you can, however if he does come back to retaliate try your best to ignore him because he is now trying to piss you off. As long as you follow whatever your company's protocol is regarding this situation and cover your bases you will be OK.