Kathy Wilkins, a 55-year-old woman with no income, savings, or home to speak of, was sleeping on a piece of cardboard under the I-4 overpass in downtown Orlando last month when she was approached by an Orlando police officer, around 8:22 p.m.
Wilkins, who is identified in jail records as homeless, “stated she was aware of the resources and wanted to sleep under the overpass,” arresting officer Angelo Brisinte wrote in a Jan. 15 arrest affidavit for Wilkins.
“Resources” for people like Wilkins without a place to sleep at night in Orlando are limited. The so-called City Beautiful hasn’t seen the construction of a new shelter for homeless people in at least a decade, according to leaders of local homeless service agencies, and it’s sorely needed. There’s been a notable rise in recent years of the number of people in the region who lack shelter, a trend driven in part by stark rent and housing cost hikes beginning in 2021. An historic effort the following year to temporarily curb rent rises in Orange County was ultimately shot down in the courts , despite its popularity among locals who were concerned about seeing longtime neighbors pushed out. The state has since barred cities and counties , including Orange, from trying to control rent prices again.
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Brisinte, the Orlando police officer, noted in Wilkins’ arrest papers last month that “probable cause existed” to arrest the woman for violating a city ordinance that bars people from sleeping on public property, including roadways…