Lawton City Council launching effort to resolve problems stemming from homelessness

Four members of the Lawton City Council will serve as a homeless committee to coordinate solutions to cope with the city’s problem with homelessness, including intimidation and fires in vacant structures.

It’s an issue city officials have been exploring in segments. In December, council members said they want a uniform effort to address issues and solutions by creating a comprehensive plan. And they want to be involved in that effort.

City Manager John Ratliff said the city needs a multi-faceted approach to address the multiple symptoms of homelessness, as well as provide strategies to help the homeless “without creating a dependency.” Mayor Stan Booker said that is why the council’s homeless committee will include representation from entities already addressing the problem, including the Southwest Oklahoma Continuum of Care.

“We want that participation,” Booker said. “It (homelessness) is absolutely a growing problem.”

Assistant Police Chief Eric Carter said his department had received more than 200 calls for trespassing in vacant structures by mid-February, while Lawton Fire Department is investigating a growing number of fires in vacant structures (six, as of mid-February). Carter said that is the reason police support the idea of Trespass Authorization Forms, documents which give police permission to act as the owner of a structure by entering it and dealing with someone who may be there illegally. Carter said that to press charges for criminal trespass, police must have the signature of the property owner and that is a problem with owners who don’t live locally.

A bigger problem is fires in vacant structures that seem to be linked to the homeless. According to the Fire Marshal’s Office, when fire investigators can’t determine there was malicious intent, fires of undetermined classification are assumed to be caused by trespassers. According to the office, 41 of the 131 fires investigated in 2022 were in vacant structures, while 50 of the 97 investigated in 2023 were in vacant structures.

Fire investigators typically find evidence that someone was in the structures, using fires for warmth, light or cooking, fire marshals say. And police predict the problem could grow, with at least 1,000 houses in Lawton that are vacant. While police are working to identify empty structures that may be attractive to the homeless, council members are pushing city staff to identify more deteriorating structures so they can force owners to either repair the structures or raze them.

Ward 5 Councilman Allan Hampton said his residents are concerned the city’s homeless population is expanding. Lawton Police Sgt. Matt Dimmitt said there is evidence that may be true: Hungry Hearts Feeding Ministry provides meals to an estimated 200 people three times a week.

Dealing with the homeless will require different strategies. Dimmit said there four categories for the homeless: those who want to be homeless because they don’t want to follow the rules in established facilities; those facing circumstances that make them homeless for only a short time; those with drugs or other chemical dependency problems; and those suffering mental health issues.

Dimmitt said city police can see the results of homelessness in crime statistics, through activities such as copper theft, petty theft, littering, breaking into structures and lewd acts. There also is violent crime among the homeless themselves, he said, adding that population doesn’t have the resources to deal with crime or the desire to talk about it.

Hampton, noting Ward 5 is an area with older structures and “a lot of people in a condensed area,” said his residents and business owners are concerned because it is a problem they face daily. He pointed to areas inundated with trash, adding one business owner has told him he has had to clean up his property three times. Hampton said loitering and trash are becoming a bigger problem for businesses in his ward, as are threats being made toward their employees and issues such as cleaning human waste from sidewalks.

One fast food business has locked its bathroom doors, providing access only to those who have a key code, while some women working in offices say they are afraid because they have been harassed by homeless people, according to Hampton.

“I want to stop businesses from moving out,” Hampton said, of his fears businesses will close because of unresolved problems.

Ward 5 Councilman Randy Warren said some problems stem from those with mental health issues, adding facilities are closing their doors without providing a solution for those who had been patients.

“Until we get some outside help, we can’t resolve it,” Warren said. “We need to figure out a solution. I don’t know what that is.”