Opinion ID: 6337521
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Post-Lyall Sweeps

Text: Sweeps have continued post-Lyall and during the pandemic. The DHOL Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint and preliminary injunction motion focus on three specific sweeps— July 2020 in Lincoln Park, August 2020 around Morey Middle School, and September 2020 near the South Platte River. A description of the July 29 Lincoln Park sweep, which is representative of the Denver Defendants’ actions during the other two sweeps, follows.4 Lincoln Park is located in downtown Denver on state property. The park was in “really bad condition” in the summer of 2020 largely due to the “very large encampment” 4 The DHOL Plaintiffs also focus on an August 2020 sweep around Morey Middle School and a September 2020 sweep of a large encampment of RVs and tents near the South Platte River. The description of the actions taken by the Denver Defendants during these two sweeps is similar to the description of actions taken during the Lincoln Park sweep. Moreover, in arguing for class certification, the Amended Complaint notes the sweeps share common issues of fact and law. Accordingly, we describe the Lincoln Park sweep in some detail as an example of the challenged activity. 7 Appellate Case: 21-1025 Document: 010110679283 Date Filed: 05/03/2022 Page: 8 it hosted. App. Vol. X at 2120. The park was littered with large amounts of trash, food waste, and improperly discarded syringes. And it suffered from a significant rat infestation. DOTI had not cleaned the park “because of concerns for safety for [] staff.” Id. at 2121. Denver Park Rangers had witnessed the “wide-spread and open use and trade of drugs in the park.” App. Vol. IV at 718. And Colorado State Patrol was not able to maintain security in the park due to “[t]he volume of people [who] were in and out of the park and the harassment and threats of violence that were taking place in the park.” App. Vol. XI at 2506. All the security cameras in the park had been destroyed. Gunshots were heard at least eight to ten times in the weeks leading up to July 29, and there was a murder in the park on July 23. On July 29, 2020, the Denver Defendants conducted a sweep of the encampment in Lincoln Park. DOTI swept the park after DDPHE restricted the area for public health reasons. The sweep was not a large-scale encumbrance removal. The record does not show exactly when the Denver Defendants began planning the sweep, but it demonstrates they did plan it in advance. Around July 26, Denver Police notified the Colorado State Patrol that they would be clearing Lincoln Park sometime soon. On July 27, a Colorado State Patrol operations plan states a local nonprofit began telling campers in Lincoln Park about a forthcoming sweep. On July 28, the Denver Defendants notified the Colorado State Patrol that they had selected the following day as the sweep date. Also on July 28, Park Rangers told campers in Lincoln Park that due to “recent gun violence and the detection of COVID within the park, concern has been 8 Appellate Case: 21-1025 Document: 010110679283 Date Filed: 05/03/2022 Page: 9 raised over [their] safety and health here in [Lincoln] Park. This is state property, but Denver Park Rangers are hearing that the park may be closed soon.” App. Vol. IV at 818. The Rangers did not tell campers the park was closing the following day. Despite the advanced planning, DDPHE did not post notice of the area restriction on Lincoln Park until the morning of July 29. That notice stated Lincoln Park “presents public and environmental health risks due to unsafe conditions associated with pest activity, harborage conditions, human waste, and trash accumulation. The Area shall remain temporarily ACCESS CLOSED for purposes of cleaning and abatement[.]” App. Vol. IV at 829. The notice did not identify any emergency. In an evidentiary hearing, Danica Lee, DDPHE’s director of Public Health Investigation, testified that advance notice was not given because DDPHE “felt that it was safer to [] provide the notice the day of,” given the prior aggressive interactions with campers in Lincoln Park and with protestors at prior sweeps.5 App. Vol. X at 2204. 5 In June 2020, DDPHE had provided seven days’ advance notice for a sweep of an encampment on 21st and Stout Street in Denver. When the Denver Defendants arrived on June 17 to post the area restriction, enforce the area restriction, and clean the area, protestors disrupted the sweep. Director Lee testified that the protestors “made every effort to interfere with the work of the city employees [who] were out there as well as the people who were encamped and trying to pack up belongings.” App. Vol. X at 2202. She described the scene as “a lot of very aggressive people shouting, yelling. Trying to push through, you know, areas that the police were trying to secure as safe spaces. It was a -- it was a very challenging situation from a safety standpoint and I think very scary for, you know, folks who were involved there.” Id. The Denver Defendants did not complete the sweep due to the protestors. 9 Appellate Case: 21-1025 Document: 010110679283 Date Filed: 05/03/2022 Page: 10 During the sweep, the Denver Defendants seized and destroyed property belonging to DHOL Plaintiffs. Plaintiff Michael Lamb was camping in Lincoln Park at the time. He testified that he awoke to trash trucks surrounding the park on July 29. He was told to move his belongings outside the park, but he could move only some of his items. When he attempted to retrieve the rest of his property, a large fence erected around the park prevented him from re-entering. From outside the fence, he saw the Denver Defendants throw away his and others’ property that he claimed was uncontaminated and unabandoned. See App. Vol. V at 981 (stating his tent and other property in the park “was clearly not trash and was not contaminated with any blood, hypodermic needles, or rodents”). Mr. Lamb “was not provided with a ticket, or other notice, that [the Denver Defendants] had seized and stored [his] property, where they had stored [it], and/or how [he] could retrieve any property.” Id. at 981. Another Plaintiff, Charles Davis, had a similar experience. He crossed the fence only to find his tent “had been taken and destroyed by [the Denver Defendants], along with everything in it.” Id. at 986. Mr. Davis slept tentless on a nearby median for multiple nights after the sweep. The Denver Defendants claim “people who were present (or returned to [Lincoln Park]) were given over four hours to pack up their belongings (or choose voluntary, free storage) and leave.” App. Vol. IV at 765. DOTI also stated that it “stored items for 3 individuals who collectively stored about 3 bins and several loose items and also stored approximately 3 bins of unattended possessions.” Id. at 810. But Terese Howard, founder of Plaintiff Denver Homeless Out Loud, attended numerous sweeps and testified that she 10 Appellate Case: 21-1025 Document: 010110679283 Date Filed: 05/03/2022 Page: 11 had never seen efforts to store property or identify property with apparent value. The DHOL Plaintiffs also state that the Denver Defendants’ general website describing how to recover stored property seized during sweeps contradicts their claim that they stored any property in the Lincoln Park sweep.