Honolulu mayor vows tougher approach on homelessness

Emboldened by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that gives local governments more power to clear homeless encampments, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi plans to double down on removing homeless people from the street.

“I’m going to be very aggressive about that, and you’re just going to begin to see it now,” he said.

His team is still figuring out what that looks like. But during a recent interview, Blangiardi said that he interprets the court ruling to give officials wide latitude, allowing city workers to remove homeless people from sidewalks on the charge of trespassing.

“Counties can determine how they want to enforce trespassing anywhere,” he said.

About two-thirds of Oahu’s roughly 4,500 homeless people sleep outside rather than in shelters, a big change from a decade ago when a majority of homeless people were sheltered. That new level of visibility is spurring Blangiardi’s drive to clear the streets.

To help with tougher enforcement, the city’s legal team is reviewing a new state law, Senate Bill 3139, which allows police officers to call for mental health professionals to treat homeless people who appear incapacitated and unable to care for themselves.

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