Over the past year, Aurora councilmembers have moved forward with what the mayor has called a “tough love” approach to homelessness, enacting a camping ban alongside starting a court system to address low-level offenses by homeless people.
With the camping ban in place, a police team of six specifically created to enforce it and the early stages of the court system in the works, Aurora’s mayor said he’s seeing some progress, but the pieces won’t fully fall into place until Nov. 15, when Aurora’s homeless navigation campus — a “one-stop shop” for homeless services and shelter — opens and expands the city’s shelter bed availability.
Several homeless people, meanwhile, are skeptical of the court system, saying they don’t frequently hear about the services available to them and wish city officials wanted to help them without first getting them in trouble with the law.
Multiple people said the camping ban just makes it more difficult to be homeless — a life experience that is already challenging and scary without the added fear of getting in trouble with the law and having to pay tickets with money they don’t have.
New camping ban
Aurora lawmakers officially passed an ordinance in February that got rid of requirements to provide shelter options and 72-hour notice before sweeping homeless encampments…