Portland rousting sidewalk campers

PORTLAND – There is now a checkout time for those who sleep on Portland sidewalks.

Police started cracking down Wednesday on people who camp on the sidewalks. It’s legal for protesters and the homeless to spend the night on the sidewalk, but they can no longer set up makeshift homes for weeks or months at a time.

“At 7 o’clock you have to get up and be a pedestrian or a protester again,” said Dana Haynes, the spokesman for Mayor Charlie Hales. “When the sun sets, you can go back to sleeping,”

Officers arrested five people during a sweep that started near City Hall before expanding to three or four other locations.

Portland, like other West Coast cities, has a relatively large homeless population, with nearly 2,000 people sleeping outdoors or in cars on any given night.

Downtown business owners have long sought tougher sidewalk restrictions, but the city has been unable to deliver. In 2009, a judge nixed as unconstitutional a “sit-lie” ordinance that banned people from sitting or lying on the sidewalk between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Police officials recently met with the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office to determine how they can enforce the city’s anti-camping ordinance and win convictions. They decided that officers must monitor the sidewalks to prove someone has been living there.

Officers started checking specific sidewalks last month, taking note of those who had been staying there for many days with large piles of belongings. They returned Wednesday and told those people they were violating the city ordinance and had to move. Those who refused to leave could be charged with interfering with a police officer.