I have always been empathetic for the homeless, regardless of where they choose to live out their daily lives, but lately, it has become a problem here in El Cajon that I do not know how to deal with. There are many homeless that are now calling downtown El Cajon home and it is becoming a serious problem that is affecting the safety of the people that live and work here, and it is hurting the businesses.
I have always been empathetic for the homeless, regardless of where they choose to live out their daily lives, but lately, it has become a problem here in El Cajon that I do not know how to deal with. There are many homeless that are now calling downtown El Cajon home and it is becoming a serious problem that is affecting the safety of the people that live and work here, and it is hurting the businesses.
I am not talking about your typical homeless person. There are many here that are unassuming, not begging on the streets and trying to survive as best as they can. But for a good while now, there is a group of homeless people that are aggressive and mentally unstable. Being that our office is in the heart of downtown El Cajon and situated between Rea Avenue and Main Street, the Arts Alley between the two streets is a magnet for the homeless. As businesses we deal everyday with coming to work finding condoms, drug paraphernalia, and trash all over the alley as they dig through the dumpsters in the alley. They also choose to defecate in our alley, and many times right in front of our businesses. Businesses have even found evidence of homeless people camping on the roofs of local businesses, a definite safety hazard.
At least once a week, if not two to three times, one homeless woman comes down the alley and as soon as she sees me starts screaming obscenities at me all the way down the alley until she passes me. I realize that she is more than likely mentally unstable but without a doubt the obscenities are meant for me as I hear the word “cowboy” several times in her rants. So far, she just continues to walk past me as she screams, but I am always on guard whenever she comes around.
Less than two weeks ago, a woman parked herself at our front door. She was clearly mentally unstable, being incoherent and asking anyone that came to the door if they had her medicine or her monthly check. She seemed harmless, but it is not good for any business to have that squatting at your front door. We called the El Cajon Police Department just to be told that they do not respond to homeless complaints unless there is a threat of violence or destruction of property. So not understanding our request for her to move, she sat there for a couple of hours, fumbling through her backpack and pushing things through our mail slot, along with asking everyone that passed by the same questions.
On Tuesday, a woman confronted me in the alley, instantly in my face with me backed up against the wall. She began to tell me the many “wonderful things” she could do for me sexually as she repeatedly unzipped her top, exposing her breast to me. She even offered to “help out” my sons if I had any. It is probably the most uncomfortable that I have been in dealing with the homeless in this area and it made me angry. I really just wanted to coldcock her and make her go away. With her in my face, my defense mechanisms immediately came into play and it was a difficult task to keep myself under control. It ruined my day, partly because I was mad at myself for getting so angry because it was highly apparent that she was mentally unstable.
I know that our East County communities are working together to try and find solutions to the homeless problem and there are many out there that need the help. Task forces are being created, but what we need is a task force on the streets, both during the day and during the night. A team of law enforcement and a mental illness specialist might be able to reach out to these particular homeless people and if nothing else, come up with an idea of the best way to deal with them. I, in no way have any mental illness training and am completely ill equipped to handle situations like I described. And these are just a few of the things I see on a daily basis with my office here in downtown. I no longer work nights in the office. I’d rather take my work home than deal with the homeless in the alleyway at night while I’m trying to get to my car. It is a potentially dangerous situation. Not only for myself, but the homeless person if he or she is threatening enough. I don’t have the answers, but I believe getting our leaders out here to see and deal with this problem on a first-hand basis is a good start. It is easy to help the homeless that want to be helped, but not so easy to deal with the mentally unstable homeless that are growing in numbers in this neighborhood.
