UA employee charley Dejolie recently recorded—and posted on YouTube—a video of an altercation between three Downtown Tucson Partnership security guards and two homeless men.
On the evening of Saturday, Sept. 19, Dejolie and his girlfriend were on their way to watch the Borderlands’ play about the Mexican-American studies ban, Más, when they were interrupted by a screaming match across the street.
The two homeless men were resting on the sidewalks surrounding the Arizona Theater Company, across the street from the Temple of Music and Art. It got so loud, several other people stopped to witnesses what was going on. A passerby tried to intervene, and told the security guards that what they were doing was harassment. But he was told to keep walking, or he’d be “put away,” too. (The security guards were equally as aggressive to others who tried to get involved, Dejolie says.)
“If I get another call about you tonight, I’m placing you in handcuffs … until [Tucson Police Department] gets here and have you go to jail,” one of the security guards says in the video. Apparently, the two homeless men had been in the area earlier and were probably intoxicated, according to the Downtown Tucson Partnership. “… that is why you are not even [allowed] on the reservation, because of the way you are,” another security tells one of the men, who is Native American.
“I don’t bother nobody … I take care of my friend,” he says. His friend’s leg is amputated. The security guard replies, “… not on their property. Like we told you earlier, [Arizona Theater Company] does not want you here.”
After close to 10 minutes, Dejolie and his girlfriend kept moving, unsure and concerned for what happened to the two men. It was clear to them that the situation wasn’t as bad as it could have been because the security guards noticed the couple filmed most of the incident.
“When you start making statements … ‘You got kicked off the reservation and they won’t take you back,’ that is the part that really pissed me off,” says Dejolie, who was born and grew up on a Native American reservation in northern Arizona.
Dejolie was homeless for a bit in Phoenix, and he also understands what it means to find land “that becomes your territory. If you enter someone else’s territory, you may get your ass kicked. These individuals that continuously end up in that corner … that is their territory. They [may not be able] to venture out,” he says.
During the following days, the couple sent email after email to Downtown Tucson Partnership CEO Michael Keith, other partnership staff, as well as ATC employees, expressing how disturbed they were and demanding the security men be fired. They weren’t, but according to DTP Director of Operations Brandi Haga-Blackman, the partnership launched an internal investigation.
“If you continue to think it is necessary to have a private security force, at the very least they should be trained in how to interact with the public in a way that de-escalates situations, not makes them worse,” one of Dejolie’s emails says.
In DTP’s defense, Haga-Blackman says in a response that on that Saturday DTP received two separate calls from the ATC demanding the two homeless men be removed from the property, because they were reportedly harassing staff and public walking by.
The men left after the first complaint, but returned later that day. About the guard who referenced the homeless man being kicked out of his reservation, Haga-Blackman and Keith explain that the DTP security guard who said that is also Native American and knows the homeless man personally.
Dejolie sees no value in justifications.
To him, it’s about so many of Tucson’s homeless continuously being devalued and criminalized over addiction, mental health and, oftentimes, simply for living on the streets. He doesn’t understand how, or when, sidewalks were deemed private property and unusable to people who have nowhere else to go.
Hoping for a Better Response
This incident aside, DTP CEO Michael Keith believes the partnership’s security force has been very helpful in alleviating the tension between downtown merchants and the community’s homeless population—frustrations that built up since the days of so-called Safe Park, a community of houseless residents who once occupied Veinte de Agosto Park.
Keith and Haga-Blackman point out that many of the security guards have developed relationships with the area’s homeless people, and are often protective. “One [man] tried to launch himself off a five-story parking garage, if it hadn’t been for our security guards reaching out and catching his ankle, he would have fallen,” Keith says. “It is an ever-changing landscape for our guys. Every time I watch them, their calm demeanor … different people require a different approach.”
Social worker and homeless advocate Michele Ream hasn’t heard many complaints against DTP security. In fact, she remembers a recent experience when one of the guards brought a homeless man to a shelter in the hopes the man could get help in applying for an ID and other services.
Still, Ream doesn’t think it should be a security guard’s responsibility to handle a population that often struggles with mental health and other sensitive issues.
“The security guards don’t have resources available to them … basically no training or support, there is no agency working with them … there is no coordinated effort between [homeless outreach] agencies and downtown,” she says. In an ideal scenario, it would be best to pair up DTP security guards with social workers who are equipped to deal with different crises.
Haga-Blackman says DTP security gets mental health training once a year, as well as first-aid and CPR courses.
As of now, according to Haga-Blackman, the only partnership that exists with DTP security is with the Tucson Police Department, which, in the eyes of many social workers like Ream is unacceptable.
The security guards receive training from Tucson police, and have the green light from the Arizona Department of Public Safety to carry handcuffs and Mace. As Keith describes, their job is to be the “eyes and ears” of Tucson Police, and, when necessary, TPD is called to the scene. Both entities handle disruptions with “grace, compassion and professionalism,” Haga-Blackman says in an email.
But Dejolie wonders what happens when there are no other people around, except for a security guard, or cop, and a homeless individual.
“There is no compassion for your fellow human beings anymore,” Dejolie says. “If I can help my brothers, my sisters, as long as I don’t jeopardize my own safety, I want to do something.”
This article appears in Dec 17-23, 2015.
It sounds as if there is a wide variety of both interperonal & intercultural relationships with the homeless. I would have to give big kudos to those that reach out to help those who are on the streets. I am also wondering how Tucson, as a municipal entity, can continue to criminalize homelessness.. It’s not working and continuing to do so will simply end up with Tucson on the map as another AZ city that is intolerant and hateful….do we REALLY want to be like Phoenix & Maricopa County? We can and should do better.
Tucsonans should not be surprised at the growing number of such incidents downtown. For many years, downtown Tucson was a magnet for the homeless because it was rundown and basically abandoned itself. However; as money is put back into businesses and attempts to revitalize the area move forward, clashes between those who have nothing and those trying to make something from nothing are predictable. Using security guards on the streets – no matter how well they are allegedly trained – is a cheap fix to long-standing problems that go beyond DTP’s attempts to drive those who are unsightly, unruly, uncared for and basically not in keeping with the hip, young and nouveau urban image they are trying to project to current and future businesses and investors. Too bad the same amount of money and effort was not put into restoring the social safety nets that were systematically torn down over the years, but then (sarcastically) who wants to invest in that?
If the “One [man] tried to launch himself off a five-story parking garage, if it hadn’t been for our security guards reaching out and catching his ankle, he would have fallen,” is the one I saw four DTP guys chasing down the central staircase of the Pennington Street Garage, from what I saw, he didn’t try to jump. He was trying to get away from four guys in purple shirts and slipped when he climbed over the rail and lost his balance. He didn’t fall, but he did get to go with some of Tucson’s Finest for his efforts.
sad
To LDONYO:
Please in detail describe the incident. Could you please tell us what this “victim” was wearing, what was said, and so on. I find this interesting you saw so much in a stairwell. Also, if you were there watching all this go down why didn’t you call the police or help try to save this man’s life? Thank you.
To ANTHONY POTTER:
The only thing sad is a grown man going out on weekends to take pictures of college girls who ask you to stop.
In the 70’s and 80’s they would arrest you for vagrancy and put the homeless into kino mental health until they cleaned up. This WORKED ! Tucson used to have clean streets and not much of a homeless problem , then the democrats started trying to “help” them. It did not work. Punitive actions are needed to clean this town up.
Those Security guards are true heroes.
Keep the Arizona Theater Company outside area clean and safe!
Tax-paying Tucson resident Americans support you.
Don’t worry about the communist hit piece written by a Guatemalan national feminist who hates white men and this country!
I’m a tax-paying Tucson resident, and I don’t think there’s anything heroic about harassing and abusing people who have nowhere else to go while the city simultaneously cuts mental health services, doesn’t provide sufficient beds in shelters, limits who can provide food to homeless folks, and restricts the amount of possessions someone can have.
Plus, the article indicates that the purple-shirted guys also were abusive to passersby who tried to get them to stop the harassment. This is not OK. Who do these wanna-be cops serve? Why don’t they have name tags or other identification?
The sidewalks are public property; they don’t belong to the ATC or any other entity. I go to the theater, I eat downtown, I’m one of the people who spend money — and I reject all private security forces, which have no accountability or oversight. Not in my name, Downtown Tucson Partnership. This needs to stop.
Funny that you reject no accountability or oversight, and then hand it to the homeless.
What is the expected outcome, perfection?
i work close by the ATC and Children’s Museum. with that said I think I know what i’m talking about when i say that the homeless are the ones out of control! Its no help that midtown liquor sells them as much as they want and because of that they act like animals going to the bathroom where ever they please including the museum where children go and play at! if the security guys got rough its because the homeless are the ones who started the whole thing. We had to call them several times because of homeless people fighting and extremely aggressive panhandling. this article doesn’t even mention any of that. the guy who wrote the article never even stopped by our place to even talk to us. so how would he know anything? if the purple shirts read this I really want you to know i appreciate everything that you do for us and down town. You make us feel safe.
@i work downtown: Homeless folks are PEOPLE. Will a restaurant allow them to use the bathroom inside? Will your workplace give them an opportunity to use the bathroom? Will the city create a public bathroom so that homeless folks can have a little dignity?
You do know that a huge proportion of homeless people are veterans — the folks that you claim to “honor” for their service, who people like you refuse to help, because taxes. Addiction and alcoholism are real problems. What should we as a society do? Private security guards harassing folks on the street who are just trying to get by, is not going to make you safer. How about some concrete solutions, like other cities are doing?
Criminalizing people who have no homes is not the answer, and you should be ashamed of calling them “animals.” Human beings, your brothers and sisters. Remember what this season is supposed to be about?
It depends on the homeless person. Once downtown a man asked me for spare change, I was with my neice and didn’t have spare change at the moment and said so. Then as my neice and I were walking away the man threw a bunch of change at me. He threw it very hard and it hurt. We kept walking, but on the way back he blocked our way with his bike and wouldn’t let us go by, so I grabbed his handle bars and pushed over his bike. Then I looked for some kind of security as we hurried away. He was threatening us and my neice was scared. If someone had come along later they may have thought the security guy was being mean to the homeless guy, because they didn’t see what occured previously. I don’t object to homeless poeple in general. I feel for them, but not all of them are harmless and if you don’t know what the complaint against them is, then you might get the wrong impression.
To blaze_mason:
It’s abundantly clear as to why the homeless are not permitted to use the restrooms downtown and also why the city rejects the idea. It’s because of the lack of respect given. Allow me to clarify the situation and add lots of little examples. Releasing your bodily functions on walls, in sinks, on toilets instead of in, this includes toilet paper that’s been used and placed everywhere but in the toilet bowl. Having been one of those people that’s had to clean up after the homeless I’ll admit to kicking them out with a smile on my face. Homeless people are indeed people, but people who act more like wild animal. Yes, it’s cruel to say, but nonetheless true. Do all homeless act this way? No, I know plenty that are very decent people, but there are many more that ruin it for those few. Does the city have the resources to maintain public bathrooms that will be vandalized constantly? I’m quite sure that’s a no-brainer.
As for the comment “private security guards harassing folks on the street who are just trying to get by”
Right….
Sleeping most of the day in the middle of the sidewalk and the short time their awake and smoking spice- I don’t see that as “trying to get by.” I see that as laziness and a waste of resources we could be using on people who want to make something of their lives.
Homeless Assistance Programs! Yes, they do indeed exist and I know quite a few people who worked hard and got their lives back in order. The key part in all of that is “worked hard.”From what you’ve said so far you honestly expect that the world owes the homeless just because life has been hard. How are the homeless special in that area? Most of use have had it pretty rough. I’ve flipped burgers and clean toilets to get what little I’ve got and I’m proud because I worked hard for it. I didn’t wait around expecting someone to randomly walk by and give me everything I need in life. I worked my butt off! If your waiting on a hero then shame on you. Be your own hero.
Also, the Christmas season is about family, love, care, and giving. Which by the way goes both ways. When I see the homeless giving back to the community by picking up their mess (liquor bottles, poop, clothing, random junk- I mean property…) I’ll return the Christmas spirit. Also, that poor innocent one legged homeless man in the article? It would be really nice if he would stop giving me the finger and cursing at me in an intoxicated state when I deny him my change.
The comments on this story make me sad for humanity. Homeless people are like wild animals? Not even wild animals turn on their own species, unlike these so-called civilized folks. Stop thinking you’re better than others, everything you have or love could be taken in an instant and then you would know what many of these people are going through.
To Ashamed of fellow humans:
How sadly mistaken you are. The animal kingdom is filled with animals who turn on their own kind everyday. I don’t blame you for this misconception, I blame the education you’ve received. Which is why I believe our schools should receive the money you seem to rather give to people who would wait around until someone gives them a free way out rather then working hard to make something of themselves.
*Male lions are well know for killing cubs that they did not father.
*Rabbits and hamsters devour their own children to further their own survival.
*Chimpanzee sometimes kill rival chimpanzee that invade their territory. Not to mention they do preform the act of cannibalism from time to time.
Please explain to me why anyone should reward laziness. My mother who was a single parent worked three jobs to get my siblings and I through high school. All she wanted was to see her children make something of themselves. She’s proud because she watched us struggle and become who we are today. To be ashamed of my fellow man would be to give them an easy way out so they can live easy while the rest of us work hard.
Homeless Assistance Programs are out there. Churches, shelters, food trucks, nice Christian people who randomly give money to panhandlers. All it takes is the motivation to go looking for it. The Downtown Library 101 N. Stone Avenue Tucson, AZ 85701. They are more then happy to let you log onto a computer to get you started on a new life.
“The comments on this story make me sad for humanity.” It makes me sad that I have to explain to people why we shouldn’t help people who refuse to help themselves. Kind of reminds me of WALL-E and how humanity turns itself into unintelligent bloated pieces of meat on hoover chairs. The ending of that movie where the Captain stands on his own for the first time? When we stand up without help for the first time is when I’m not sad for humanity.
Think hard about that.
Becoming “homeless” in Tucson is not a state that anyone aspires to. Plenty have worked hard in this town only to lose their gains to some form of circumstance and injustice. As a community we should be looking into, and working hard to address the root causes of this form of societal instability before it befalls more of us. As it appears unanimous that both sides speaking to this issue would like have less homeless, perhaps it may be the right time to reverse the causes of the homeless plight in Tucson;
-inadequate access to livable wage employment in Tucson
-inadequate access to affordable housing in Tucson
-inadequate access to affordable medical care in Tucson
-inadequate representation by the agencies charged with upholding civil rights and fair justice for all Tucsonans (not just for the businesses paying big law firms to have the law slanted their way)
As Tucsonans we contribute much to this town in taxes of many types, but we we see little of that directed back into our people, policy, or even the pavement of our roads. This system must be working well for some, but not for the many, and certainly not for those who become homeless everyday in Tucson. Thank you to Maria for writing about this “inordinate ordinance”.
Im sure all you people that think they shouldn’t be removed wouldnt want them infront of their home.
I think it should be noted (regarding the incident outside the temple of music and art) that most people who live downtown read that and knew exactly which homeless dudes were involved. Because they are always stumbling around, drunk off their asses, loud and stinking. They’re not representative of all the homeless, just as they’re not representative of all native Americans. Those guys are a cancer to both groups. They get money from the tribe and have access to the same, if not more, services, and yet they choose to live that way. All while yelling “get off my land!” at any white person who doesn’t give them change or god forbid, who asks them not to piss openly on the sidewalk. Midtown Liquor should be fined to death for selling to these dudes.
Mr. White watches too many nature programs.