Carlton Jackson spends most of his days sitting at the park across the street from Leesburg’s City Hall.
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He spends most of his nights there, too.
Jackson is homeless and one of a number within city limits traveling between the park, downtown, and the bike trail.
Come October 1, Jackson’s favorite sleeping spots will become illegal, thanks to a new Florida law that criminalizes regularly sleeping or camping in a public space.
Read: Orlando releases list of sites considered to become possible homeless shelters
“It’s just like getting a can of RAID,” he said. “Just spray roaches, and it’s over with. “We’re not roaches, we’re people.”
A few blocks away, Mayor Jimmy Burry contemplated the new law’s effects. Leesburg doesn’t have a permanent shelter for the city’s homeless and instead relies on churches to assist where they can.
He said he was afraid his police would be consumed with arresting the homeless instead of cracking down on car break-ins. If they built a shelter, he said, it could open Leesburg up to other cities bussing their populations in.