San Francisco police have begun implementing cordons around some encampment clearings, with officials blaming the tactic on a national media circus that descended on the city’s homeless outreach teams over the summer.
But the new measure is causing concern among some local journalists and activists, who say the city is using it to keep would-be observers at a distance and avoid accountability.
After the city launched a crackdown on street encampments in late July, which was first reported by The Standard, journalists from across the country pounced on the story — at times impeding the city’s ability to move homeless people into shelter, according to two Department of Emergency Management spokespeople.
CNN and Fox News camera operators shoved their equipment in homeless people’s faces, into their vehicles, and inside their tents as the city attempted to move them into shelter during the first two weeks of August, the spokespeople said.
“[CNN] wanted to interview a gentleman who was going into shelter,” said DEM spokesperson Denny Machuca-Grebe. “So they ran from one end of the alleyway to the other and shoved the camera in the client’s face as he was getting in the van to drive away.”
During another August encampment clearing, a Fox News videographer filmed inside a woman’s RV without her permission said DEM spokesperson Jackie Thornhill. This made the client uncomfortable and unwilling to enter shelter.
“He stood in front of the vehicle and stuck a camera in her face,” Thornhill said. “She was like, ‘I don’t want any part of this.’”
Fox News said the footage in question never aired. CNN said it “respectfully abided by all parameters and obeyed every instruction from a city official, who accompanied them for the duration of the shoot.”
Thornhill said that activists are also known to attend encampment clearings and instruct unhoused people not to follow the city’s instructions. To prevent further incidents, the city now tapes off the perimeter during some encampment clearings when journalists or activists are present. But watchdogs say the new measure makes the city’s actions less transparent.
Freelance journalist Yesica Prado was arrested during a September encampment sweep in Oakland. She said the tactic may compromise journalists’ ability to properly document sweeps, explaining she needs to hear whether someone is offered shelter, for example.
“It just raises a lot of red flags,” Prado told The Standard by phone. “We don’t get to hear what they’re saying. People are being hurt, and we can’t cover that.”
Jennifer Friedenbach, of the coalition on homelessness, which is suing the city over its encampment clearing methods, said the police tape makes it more difficult to monitor whether the city is complying with the law. Friedenbach said she was present when CNN filmed its segment and that the reporters asked unhoused people for consent before filming.
“They just don’t want the media to watch what they’re doing,” Friedenbach said. “They need to be able to talk to folks and find out what’s going on.”