Homeless Camps Attract Illegal Dumping and Blight

Homelessness is becoming a concern in most parts of the United States.  A person without a stable home can be someone moving from motel to motel, or a car, or in some cases the streets.  Some people without homes have set up temporary shelters, like a tent or tarp.  There are even homeless communities, where there are groups of temporary shelters that can be seen in parks or lined up on streets.  While viewing a homeless camp is very sad, the conditions in these camps are hazardous, not just to the homeless but also to the surrounding community. 

According to a volunteer, who cleans up homeless camps, she finds illegal dumping and very hazardous conditions.  She has even come across dead bodies.   Trash, needles, and unsanitary disposal of waste is a breeding ground for rats, roaches, and other disease carrying critters.

Rats and other rodents carry dangerous diseases, which can be transmitted to human through contact with the feces or urine or breathing in airborne particles. Many people have heard about the Bubonic plague that killed hordes of people in the Middle Ages.  The Bubonic plague is just one of the life-threatening diseases that rodents can carry with them, which can infect a human if the rodent’s flea bites the human.

Within the piled-up trash, these rats multiply and invade the neighboring residents and businesses, causing a community panic. While this problem is very complex, and strategy requires legislation and empathy, there needs to be tools in place to help keep the homeless community from setting up a camp especially near parks and areas where children play. One such tool should be a portable camera that deters the activity and can be easily moved around. 

Portable cameras will help the officers and volunteers who are involved in these communities, while the legislators design a permanent solution.