Incident Update and Addressing Issues in Our Parks

As many of you may have seen, there was a disturbing incident that took place out in front of the entrance of Fred Meyer/Duck Pond yesterday. The incident is not acceptable and the circumstances around it are exasperating, to put it mildly. Like most things in life, there is a back story and nuance involved which I will share more about. The individual involved routinely gets the police called on him, sometimes several times per day and he was cited earlier this week for a separate incident. When police arrived 8 minutes after the call, they found the man asleep in his motorized chair and a woman asleep on the ground next to him. Without video or photo evidence of the incident, or without multiple witnesses, not much can be done. If you see a crime being committed, take a photo or video and call it into police right away. The camping situation out in front of the Duck Pond is going to be addressed very soon. There are capacity restraints on the city and with illegal camping taking place in several areas, they cannot all be addressed at once. The City of Roseburg and the Roseburg Police department have been working very hard to address these issues under very difficult circumstances. Here are a few more points I think are helpful to consider: The issues are not always black and white and are very complicated once you dive in to try and help. Just because you vehemently disagree with someone else trying to solve some of the issues doesn’t mean they do not care. The burden of all these issues is not evenly distributed. Our local Police departments are being asked to wear 15 different hats and deal with impossible situations. When tempted to get angry at how things are, step back and try instead to ask how you can help. Hold your solutions loosely and be careful who you model your solutions after. If there is almost no fruit after several years of trying something, be willing to try something else. Doing what’s best for those living on the streets and/or struggling with addictions is not mutually exclusive to doing what’s best for the community. For example, those living in tents by the Duck Pond. The best thing for everyone is not to allow people to camp and do drugs and commit crimes at the entrance of a wildlife area, park, and kid's area. It’s not good for those individuals, the community, the wildlife, or the natural area. Whenever RVs or campers are moved out of the parks, social services works with our Police department to offer services to the individuals. Many individuals do not want help and they cannot be forced to accept help. The new navigation center in Roseburg will be opening before the end of June. This should provide low-barrier shelter options. The Roseburg Rescue Mission also routinely has several dozen available beds each night for those who want help. What these people are going through is really sad. Each of them is someone’s son and daughter, someone’s brother and sister, someone's mother or father. Try to look at them with compassion and be kind to those who are trying to help. Support our law enforcement officers, especially those working with the campers. I’ve heard reports of them being harassed which is unacceptable. We are fortunate to have officers that really care about our community and we would all be wise to do our best to show our appreciation for them, especially during a time when there is a shortage of police officers all across the country. It’s very, very challenging work. Earlier this afternoon, my son Abraham and I went over and did a trash/litter pick up at the entrance of Fred Meyer all the way through the front of the Duck Pond. As discouraging as it gets sometimes, we can’t give up. Get involved, including talking to your local and state politicians and letting them know what you think about the current problems you see in our communities.