Colorado Springs Expands Anti-Homeless Legislation and Homeless Response Team
The City of Colorado Springs has expanded its legislation targeting unhoused individuals, establishing a new multi-agency Homeless Response Team (HRT) and allocating $458,000 for private security patrols along the South Nevada corridor. The HRT aims to enhance coordination among 12 to 15 city departments to address homelessness, formalizing existing relationships and adding six officers to the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT), a division of the Colorado Springs Police Department. However, the HOT currently lacks a protocol for addressing homeless encampments, with Amie Cox, the city’s chief housing and homelessness response officer, stating that there is no plan for permanently closing camps through methods like fencing or hostile architecture. The Colorado Springs Homeless Union alleges that HOT is notorious for harassment and abuse, claiming officers remove encampment residents and direct them to the Springs Rescue Mission, the city's only publicly funded shelter. Organizers report instances of HOT officers ...
