S1: It's time for Midday Edition on KPBS. Today we're talking about some of the biggest stories coming out of our newsroom. I'm Jade Hindman with conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and engaged. The San Diego Police Department has wide disparities when it comes to the use of canines.
S2:
S1: Then we'll talk about the proposal to change the laws around deporting veterans and a city fund for homelessness in limbo. That's ahead on midday Edition. San Diego's Commission on Police Practices began reviewing canine policy last week after complaints of excessive force. KPBS reporter Katie Hyson says police data show large racial disparities in bites. The following story contains graphic violence.
S2: Officers surrounded a Valencia Park home six weeks ago , responding to a claim that Marcus Evans threatened a woman with a gun. He came out hands in the air and basketball shorts. No shirt , no shoes. I have no nothing , he said. Turned around to show them. SAT down , hands still up. Ah ! An officer fired a beanbag at his stomach. Evans collapsed. Why ? You will be pinned by police. He sat up. Hands up. They shot another beanbag , injuring his shin , then released a canine. Into the dog didn't bite. They shot another beanbag. It hit near his groin and released another canine outfit. The dog latched onto his arm , wrenching it back and forth. Evans fell on his back. The dog continued for half a minute before officers got it to release. They never found a gun or booked Evans into jail , according to his lawyer , Dante Pride. He had just joined a construction union weeks after the arrest. He still couldn't work or walk , had trouble opening and closing his left hand. A bruised rib made it hard to breathe. Pride , says Evans , plans to sue.
S3: We're going to ask that the court order SPD not to allow their dogs to be released on someone on the ground.
S2: San Diego's K-9 unit is big. A few dozen dogs triple that of a similar sized city. The unit started in the 80s after a string of suspect and officer deaths. Canines are less lethal than guns. They're meant to find missing people and evidence and de-escalate dangerous situations. This year , CPD K-9s have bitten more than 30 people. CPD data show black people are nine times likelier to be bit by canines than white people. Chief Scott Wahl says they're reviewing Evans arrest. He says canines bite less than 2% of times they're brought out. And the racial disparities , our.
S4: Bites are not based off of somebody's color of their skin. Our bites are based off of a person's actions.
S2: A recent change in state law required the department to release 2021 body cam footage of an CPD sergeant saying a K9 quote , only likes dark meat. He's still on the force. So is Allen Di Martin. Sources say his canine bit Evans he has yet to confirm. In 2018 , he was disciplined for excessive force on someone who spoke Spanish. After he told them to speak English , he was transferred to another division. Promoted , Hired to the canine unit and sent back to the majority black and Latino neighborhood of Valencia Park.
S5: Except this time with a dog.
S2: Officer John Cochrane has been with CPD for three decades. He filed a complaint about Evan's arrest.
S5: Just because you have a call involving a gun don't mean you get to use any force that you want to do.
S2: He points to something called the use of force matrix. How SPD officers should respond to different situations , including passive resistance.
S5: Refusal to comply with verbal commands , and does not convey a threat of physical resistance to the officer or another person , which that's what I believe Marcus Evans was. This plan for.
S2: Passive resistance officers should use things like batons and pressure points , not beanbag guns , not canines , he says. Canines are also used on people suspected of nonviolent offenses. Kristi Lopez says that's a national pattern. She investigated canine units across the country for the U.S. Department of Justice and found they consistently disproportionately bite black people.
S6: These are dogs that are bred because of how strong and destructive their bite is. It has been compared to a shark bite. People have had their scalps ripped off. They have been killed.
S2: The American Civil Liberties Union found canines have severely injured or killed hundreds of Californians. Nearly half showed signs of mental health disability.
S6: When you use an animal to attack a person , you are to some extent. Um , you know , treating that person like prey.
S2: Scpd canines have bit. An unarmed naked man stayed latched onto someone already handcuffed , allegedly jumped a fence and attacked a mother with her five year old.
S6: You're never going to be able to ensure that that dog isn't going to attack the wrong person , or not let go when they're supposed to.
S2: Recent California bills tried to limit the use of canines. Police campaigned against them. None of the bills succeeded in 2020. Salt Lake City suspended the use of K-9s for apprehension. Researchers found no negative effect on officer or suspect safety. Chief wall says the review of Evan's arrest will likely take months. Katie Hasan , KPBS news.
S1: Joining me now to unpack her story is KPBS racial justice and equity reporter Katie Hyson. Katie , it's good to have you back on Midday Edition.
S2: Thanks for having. Me.
S1: Me. Well , I mean , what a powerful story there , Katie. Especially that opening scene. Tell me what it was like reporting this piece.
S2: So I moved here from Florida and back there. I actually reported on our canine unit for about a year , and I had to watch so much horrific body cam footage and bystander video and speak with people who were mauled by police canines , including an unarmed black man who had his eye ripped out after running from a traffic stop. So when a community member here in San Diego texted me this footage of Marcus's arrest , my stomach sank and I debated seriously over whether or not to include the footage in this story. The reason I decided to include it is that police reports sound a lot cleaner than the reality. They use terms like K-9 used for apprehension or even canine bite. I don't think that conveys the impact. And if we're going to talk about whether or not to reform canine policy and in what ways , I think the community needs to know what this use of force really is , what it looks like , what it sounds like to make an informed decision. Wow.
S1: And first , I want to know more about Marcus Evans. I mean , how is his recovery going ? Tell me a bit more about him.
S2: I want to know more too. to. Marcus was the first person I wanted to speak with for this story , but his lawyer doesn't want him to speak to media until after he's deposed for his legal claim against the city. What I do know is that he's the only son of a woman named Glenda Evans , and she said that since his arrest , she's had to approach her grandchildren , his children , I'm assuming , very delicately that they're all going to need therapy for this and that the road to recovery would be long. And that's my experience with canine bite victims that even if their physical injuries fully heal , which for many of them , they don't , the psychological harm lasts sometimes a lifetime.
S1: Well , tell me more about the track record of canines in San Diego's police force.
S2: One figure I hear tossed around is that it should be under 20% and speeds is under 2% , and they referenced that a lot. But there is debate over whether that standard makes sense. And bite numbers vary really widely , even between major cities. So you have places like Chicago where police almost never use canines , and places like Indianapolis , where for a time their canines were biting someone every five days. Um , the Marshall Project , another journalism outlet , looked at data between 2017 and 2019. And back then San Diego was in the top ten nationally for per capita bites. So far. Our bites this year are more than two times what they were in 2019 , so I'd say we're up there. Um , the other thing is this large racial disparity in who the canines are biting. So in San Diego , black people and white people have about the same number of bites reported , even though black people are a ninth , the population of white people here.
S1: I mean , and that that just strikes me , um , because the data shows black people are , as you mentioned , nine times more likely to be bitten than white people.
S2: I would question that , um , in their policy , the canine handler is given ultimate decision over whether or not to release their canine , and they're supposed to consider what they call the totality of the circumstances to weigh out if it warrants the canine and if the person poses a threat. Most of us are familiar now with what's called unconscious bias , or implicit bias in the heat of the moment when the handler has to make a decision. Are they weighing black people as more of a possible threat than white people ? Officer John Cochran , who is black , said he believes Marcus Evans showed no threat. We also know that there are officers still on the force who had sustained discipline against them , meaning internal Affairs investigated and found the charges to be true for making racist comments , including a sergeant caught on bodycam saying that a K-9 only liked dark meat and die. Martin , who allegedly released the K-9 that bit Marcus , who used excessive force on someone who spoke Spanish after he told them to speak English. So ideally , yes , K9 use would be based only on the actions of the person and the threat they pose. But I think we have enough evidence and past instances to question whether that's totally true.
S1:
S2: They want to know and understand more. Um , I heard concern from Christy Lopez , the DOJ investigator , that , um , she had heard racial comments at places that train these dogs. Um , so I think that's a follow up question to look at is how our San Diego police canines being trained. But ultimately it's the handler that decides whether they get released. And these are animals. So once they're released , you don't have total control over what they do. Um , so I'm as a reporter , I'm more interested in looking at the handler training than the dog training.
S1: Um , and community members are criticizing what they see as a lack of accountability. Walk me through Allen Di Martin's record leading up to the night. Evans was bit.
S2: I haven't requested his personnel file yet , and I've experienced that. It's a lot harder to get public records here than it was in Florida. But I do know after he was found to have used that excessive force , he was transferred from Southeast Division to Eastern Division as part of his discipline , but later he was promoted to sergeant and then hired to the canine unit , which in my experience is usually seen as a promotion or a reward for officers. And the canine unit gets called to scenes across the city , including the southeast. So , as Officer Cochran put it , he was back , but with a dog. I've called every number I could find for Di Martin and have not gotten a response yet from him. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Well , you you mentioned Officer John Cochrane , who filed a complaint about Evans arrest. Tell me more about him.
S2: To be honest with you , I was really surprised that he agreed to go. Not just on record with me , but on camera. Never in my five years of doing this kind of reporting , have I had an officer willing to do that to hold his department accountable ? Um , Officer Cochran said he's filed about one internal complaint a year during his three decades on the force. Um , he speaks openly about racism within the department , that black officers are quick to be demoted and slow to be promoted compared to white officers , that the culture sometimes drives them to quit entirely. He thinks that's part of the problem , that the force doesn't reflect the demographics of the community , and a 2020 study backs that. It found that women and people of color are underrepresented on SPD's force , and that citywide , they're paid less on average than male and white employees.
S1: And in your story , Officer Cochran discusses the this use of force matrix , which describes how officers should respond to different situations.
S2: And I think Marcus's arrest shows that. So to Officer Cochran , it was this clear instance of passive resistance. But if the K-9 handler argued that they assessed the totality of circumstances and decided Marcus could have access to a gun or might pose a threat to physical safety , then they could argue in their eyes , it was an act of resistance and warranted. And so there are some of these internal policies that seem like they can conflict with each other. And that was something a member of the Commission on Police Practices brought up and seemed to want some clarity onto.
S1: And I want to hear more about those failed California bills that have tried to limit the use of canines.
S2: And of course , um , police unions are really influential as well. And generally they don't like being limited in any way on the kinds of decisions they can make in the field or the tools they can have access to. There was , interestingly , one bill this year that was actually supported by police around setting a statewide standard for canine use , but when I reviewed it , it didn't really seem to limit anything. It just seemed to kind of formalize what's currently the norm and extend it statewide. But that failed as well.
S1:
S2: We know Marcus's lawyer wants the court to order SPD not to release canines on someone on the ground. Tasha Williamson wants more oversight of the canine department. Maybe community involvement in who they hire. It's also a chance for the department and the community to really take a look at the unit and their policies and decide whether they're in the public interest. When I was reporting on this in Florida , Um , Christy Lopez to tell me that it's really hard to change police use of canines and that the only places that have done it either had an incredibly forward looking chief , in her words , or an incredibly active and persistent community. But when I asked the officer , Corcoran about policy reform , he said his words were not even following the policies we already have. So we can start there. Wow.
S1: Wow. Well , I'm glad that you are following this story. I've been speaking with Katie Hyson , KPBS racial Justice and Equity reporter. Katie , thank you for being here.
S2: Thanks for having me.
S1: Coming up , deported vets and a new proposal to change the laws.
S7: You broke the law. You did your time served in jail , but then you got this added punishment of deportation. Everyone would say , like , I would rather be in jail twice as long as I was and not be deported , because this is way worse than the sentence I originally served for the crime.
S1: Hear more when KPBS Midday Edition returns. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. There are more than 40,000 foreign nationals serving in our military , but those who are not yet American citizens are just one mistake away from being deported. KPBS border reporter Gustavo Solis spoke to veterans advocating for a federal law that would make it easier for foreign born soldiers to gain U.S. citizenship. Take a listen.
S7: Last month , KPBS spoke with a group of conservative men , mostly veterans , about immigration reform. They didn't mince words.
S8: The bottom line is there were guys that were serving our country , keeping me alive , keeping my fellow brothers alive. And that's why I'm here today.
S7: Robert Blessing is a retired Army chaplain. He's talking about non-citizen soldiers who have become deported And veterans. Right now , there are roughly 40,000 non-citizens serving in the armed forces , those who do not finish the naturalization process and get in trouble with the law risk being deported.
S8: This is outrageous. We they fought for us. They swore to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies , foreign , domestic. They get in trouble after that and we kick them out. I haven't found anybody who says that's a good idea.
S7: This is personal for blessing. He visits deported veterans in Tijuana , and once he performed a naturalization ceremony during a deployment in Iraq.
S8: And it was a wonderful experience to say , Welcome to America while you're serving our country in a combat zone.
S7: No one would confuse these guys for liberals. They say explicitly that they're not woke. They're not open borders. They're not pro amnesty. They believe immigrants who committed violent crimes should be deported. Jim Sprout is a civilian who recently joined the Deported Veterans movement.
S9: There are people that have been deported that I'm glad are deported , but this is a select group. This is people that served this country. They didn't do any heinous crimes.
S7: It hasn't taken long for him to become an outspoken advocate.
S9: I have to say I was appalled when I heard about this. So much so that I'm very glad to be here , very glad to bring this out into the open.
S7: And if sprout is the movement's new recruit , Robert Vivar is the battle tested veteran. He's with the group United U.S. Deported Veterans Resource Center.
S10: The deportation of veterans is worldwide , and we had deported veterans to over 40 countries around the world.
S7: Vivar says that most veterans are deported after committing a criminal offense like drunk driving , drug possession , having an unregistered firearm or domestic violence. You know , there's no.
S10: Secret there's no denying veterans getting into trouble. Now , why ? Because , you know , they find it very difficult to reenter civilian life.
S7: He is lobbying for a proposed federal law called the Veterans Service and Recognition Act. It creates an expedited pathway for any service member to complete their citizenship process by the time they finish basic training. The bill also calls for a committee to review cases of deported veterans to see if they should be allowed back in the US. Vivar says it's been a challenge to get conservatives to support the bill.
S10: The problem that we're hearing and we've been hearing for a long time , is that they try to correlate it with an immigration issue , and that's where I think the the whole subject gets blown out of proportion.
S7: Instead of looking at it as an immigration issue , he says it should be viewed as a Veterans Affairs issue. And other veterans who have served with non-citizen soldiers agree. For me , it's.
S11: A it's a very personal issue. It's I worked alongside those guys and gals.
S7: Andy Waters is a retired US Navy veteran. He says immigrants are an asset to the military.
S11: There are people that have expertise and knowledge , language skills , other kinds of things that maybe you don't get. You get what you get in terms of volunteers for an all volunteer force. And sometimes we can't from U.S. citizens , recruit all the people that we need.
S7: The bill was introduced last year and hasn't made it out of committee. Advocates now see an opportunity with Donald Trump in the white House and Republicans controlling the House and Senate. Gustavo Solis , KPBS news.
S1: And Gustavo joins me now to talk about the story. Gustavo , welcome.
S7: Hello , Jade. Thanks for having me back.
S1: Always good to have you on. So explain to me , if you will , the thinking behind deporting veterans who are not U.S. citizens , especially over minor infractions.
S7: There isn't a lot of thinking because you're limited by the laws , right ? And our laws are very clear if you are an immigrant in this country , whether you're , you know , undocumented or you have legal status , a lot of these folks , almost all of them are permanent residents. But if you are convicted of certain crimes , and in some cases , even if you're just charged a certain crimes , it's , you know , automatic grounds for deportation. It wasn't always minor crimes. And initially it was right. In immigration court , they used this term aggravated felony , which means something completely different in the criminal justice system. And over the years , Congress has expanded what counts as an aggravated felony in immigration. So examples of it are not showing up to a court appointment , filing a false tax return theft. Those all count as aggravated felonies under immigration laws , which I can see. Your face is kind of bonkers , right ? Yes , but they do carry very , very heavy consequences for people who are not U.S. citizens. Wow.
S1: Wow.
S7:
S1:
S7: Some of it is cultural. A lot of these folks tend to be enlisted. They do a lot of the grunt work. And for some of the forms , you need a senior officer to sign them. Right ? So you're you're you're fresh in there to have one up for an enlisted person to have one on one time with a senior officer , it's extremely rare. And the power dynamics , right. The hierarchical structure of the military really disincentivize those that enlisted person to say like , hey , officer , I need you to sign this document for me. Right ? The other one is just , um , education , ignorance about the process. I've spoken to deported veterans who assumed that the oath of service. Right. The oath that they took to defend the Constitution against enemies , foreign and domestic , that that counted as the citizenship oath. They thought it was one of the same. And they thought I started the paperwork and then I took this oath. I'm set. And the other one , the very real one , is you don't prioritize it , especially during the deployment , right ? Think about it and your deployment. These enlisted folks are often the ones on the front line. You're getting shot at. You're just surviving. You wake up , you're briefed , you go out , you eat , you come back , you're debriefed , you go to sleep , and you do it again over and over and over again , filling out a paperwork. It's not going to be on top of your priority list.
S1:
S7: One , you mentioned in the beginning and we talked about it in the future , 40,000 , right. 40,000 non-citizens currently serving right now. That's a that's a big chunk. If you ask anyone , would you be okay with losing 40,000 members of the armed service ? Everyone say no. But besides just the hard numbers , they add a special skill set that you U.S. citizen soldiers often don't have , especially in things like , um. Language skills , cultural competency. Right. How valuable is it to have soldiers who speak Arabic , French , Spanish , who have been to other countries where we're currently deployed right now and our military is all over the world right now. So I think that really adds a lot. Yeah , to the table in terms of readiness. And then in terms of recruitment , I mean , we want to be able to keep on recruiting from this pool , right. But if there's a sense that they , they , they risk being deported , if something falls through the cracks , it could impact recruitment down the line. As some of the arguments these folks were making.
S1: It sounds like they're a huge asset to our armed forces.
S7: Like people listening might , might think there's actually been a couple of really interesting stories. And I've heard anecdotally myself from from deported veterans in Mexico that they're recruited by the drug cartels to be their muscle , essentially. Right. The cartels pay very well compared to what deported folks in Mexico often earn in call centers or different things like that. And veterans obviously have a particular set of skills that our country invested in training them like they're trained to do violence , not just violence , but they're trained in strategy and maneuvering. That skill set is very valuable to Mexican drug cartels. So that's something that we have seen.
S1:
S7: I think we heard , um , Chaplain Robert Blessing say something like , I don't know anyone who thinks this is okay , and this is a good idea , and I think it's an accurate statement. While there is no opposition , there is an absence of support , which must be a little nuance , but it's a big difference. Uh , and particularly , uh , from Republicans and conservatives who view this as an immigration issue. And unfortunately , in a lot of political circles , particularly from conservatives , they've kind of been trained to interpret anything that is , uh , viewed as a protection from deportation or an expansion of protection for for migrants without status as open borders and amnesty. And it's a nonstarter. What these folks are trying to do is change that narrative and say , no , this isn't an immigration issue. This is a veterans issue , and they're hoping to get traction that way.
S1:
S7: The confused I mean , some of them , uh , the ones I've talked to in Mexico are just sad , depressed , like , you know , they have family here in the US that they can never see. Some of them have partners and children over here that they can never see. And they they're very proud of their service. They're very proud to to , you know , put their life on the line for the United States. And they recognized that a lot of them did make a mistake. They had run ins with the law , whether it was something minor , like having an unregistered firearm or something a little bit more serious , domestic violence , drunken driving. They recognize they made that mistake , but they feel and I think Robert Vivar captures this very well. He calls it like a double punishment. Right ? You broke the law. You did your time , served in jail , but then you got this added punishment of deportation. Everyone would say , like , I would rather be in jail twice as long as I was and not be deported , because this is way worse than the sentence I originally served for the crime. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Is there a sense of betrayal.
S7: For some of them ? Yes. Yeah. I think Chaplain Robert Blessing kind of vocalized this with some of the other folks we talked to. They said , you know , like one of the main virtues of the military , right ? Just leave no man behind. And they got the sense that with these folks , they are leaving them behind. So it does feel like a sense of betrayal in a way. Yeah.
S1: Yeah.
S7: The Biden administration did create some programs that allow for reviews and and could potentially expedite their return. Just last week , Robert Vivar texted me saying one of the deported veterans was able to come back after many years. A lot of the advocacy is done by deported veterans themselves , and they have these resource centers in border cities throughout Mexico. But it's not just Mexico , right ? We have , as Vivar mentioned , we have deported veterans in over 40 countries. I know I think Haiti and Dominican Republic are another big , big source of of where they go to.
S1: So what's next for this legislation that these veterans are efforting the Veterans Service and Recognition Act.
S7: Right. The window seems to be kind of closed with this administration. They're hoping that , you know , with with Trump in the white House and Republicans in control of the House and Senate , they could potentially change some minds and get some push that way if they see , like , hey , look , this is a no brainer , straightforward build that that helps veterans and keeps our military more prepared. I think they're going to try to make that argument. And right now they're just raising awareness. That's why they wanted to come and talk with us. And they're planning to meet with as many representatives of Congress as they can to to drum up support.
S1: I've been speaking with KPBS border reporter Gustavo Solis. Gustavo , this is something we'll continue to follow. Thanks so much for joining us.
S7: Thank you Jade , appreciate it.
S1: Still to come. Money was raised to help San Diegans experiencing homelessness , but only T-shirts were bought.
S12: The city really surrounded this initiative with some pretty vaunted language. You know , they said , this is not an effort to just manage homelessness. This is an effort to resolve homelessness in the city of San Diego. So they really had high hopes.
S1: Hear more when KPBS Midday Edition returns. Welcome back to KPBS Midday Edition I'm Jade Hindman. Earlier this year , the city of San Diego came up with a novel idea to address homelessness , solicit donations to pay for shelter , housing and safety net programs. But KPBS investigative reporter Scott Rod says the city has fallen far short of its fundraising goal , and little money has been spent.
S12: Mayor Todd Gloria chose his state of the city address in January to unveil a bold new effort to solve homelessness.
S13: So tonight , I'm announcing a philanthropic campaign to help the city carry out our ambitious plans to end our homelessness crisis. Called San Diegans Together Tackling Homelessness , this campaign has already has commitments for a quarter of $1 million.
S12: The city aimed to raise $370 million in donations this year from philanthropic organizations , private businesses and average residents. The money would go towards preventing homelessness , expanding shelters and building an affordable housing high rise downtown. But San Diegans Together tackling homelessness has so far raised just over $1 million , a tiny fraction of its target for the year. Its only expenditure was a few thousand dollars on T-shirts for a volunteer event. Experts and advocates who focus on homelessness response and prevention are unimpressed with the initiative.
S14: It is a Worthy aspiration , but not terribly practical and probably not achievable.
S12: Rick Gentry is the former CEO of the San Diego Housing Commission. The public agency works to expand affordable housing and address homelessness.
S14: I think there's a great need for planning , coordination , focus and partnership. You don't just set out a goal and expect people to follow you.
S12: So far , the city hasn't followed through on key commitments. A ten member advisory board that's supposed to help run the initiative is only half filled and has yet to hold a meeting. The city also said it would post updates online about the initiatives , fundraising and spending , but that information is nowhere to be found.
S15: It's bad governance. Um , you know , there's a real issue with the lack of transparency.
S12: Jesse Schmidt is the state policy manager with the advocacy group Alliance San Diego. He's skeptical of the city's plan and says nonprofits and residents already do a lot of work in this space , he argues they shouldn't have to shoulder more of the burden.
S15: This is an issue that needs to be dealt with and addressed by our government.
S12: Mayor Todd Gloria declined multiple interview requests through a spokesperson. San Diego Chief Operating Officer Eric Dargan is overseeing the initiative for the city. He downplayed the criticisms.
S16: I don't consider it falling short. I just consider it an opportunity for anybody that wants to get on the bandwagon. There's there's no time frame , there's no deadline.
S12:
S16: You'd be amazed how many people in this city are not doing anything.
S12: Dargan says the initiative is looking into funding prevention efforts and assisting college students facing housing instability , but it's made only one expenditure to date purchasing t shirts T-shirts for a volunteer cleanup event downtown.
S16: You know , doing $2,400 on cleanups to get volunteers to come and be active downtown and understand where a lot of trash is coming from , which is coming from the homeless community. Uh , that's that's a small effort and not not anything major.
S12: Dargan says the city still stands behind the initiative despite the limited impact , but he offered a more modest measure of success than the original goal of resolving homelessness.
S16: If we're able to assist one person , then this initiative is a success.
S12: So the city will continue this donation based effort to address homelessness.
S17:
S12: Jennifer Moseley is a professor at the University of Chicago who studies the intersection of nonprofits , philanthropy , government , and homelessness. She says the city misjudged how philanthropy works and that it hasn't done enough to inspire confidence in potential donors. I think.
S17: That the proof is already there in terms of the low amount of money that they've raised , the low amount of money they've given out , and the fact that they don't seem to have built any infrastructure around. It.
S12: It. Mosley says the city should focus its efforts instead on supporting established charities and working more closely with the regional Task Force on Homelessness. Scott , Rod , KPBS news.
S1: Joining me now is KPBS investigative reporter Scott Rod. Scott , welcome to Midday Edition.
S12: Thanks , Jade , for having me on.
S1: Glad to have you. So the city hoped to raise some $370 million for this program. San Diegans together tackling homelessness is what they called it , but only managed to raise just over a million. And as you uncovered , the only thing that's come from it so far has been $2,400 spent on t shirts.
S12: And that's what I spent about about a month trying to figure out , you know , this is an example of kind of a moonshot initiative. You know , this was something that was bold. You know , it's described as ambitious. And they had the city really surrounded this initiative with some pretty vaunted language. You know , they said , this is not an effort to just manage homelessness. This is an effort to resolve homelessness in the city of San Diego. So they really had high hopes for this , for this effort. But what became clear is that raising money from organizations , from nonprofits , from philanthropists , that's tricky. That's tough. It takes a lot of work. It takes a coordinated campaign , a lot of infrastructure. And then beyond that , part of this initiative was looking to raise money directly from residents in San Diego , just everyday residents. And it turns out that , folks , it seems like didn't want to shell out more money beyond what they're already paying in taxes for this initiative. And that may be because they thought maybe their taxes were enough. Maybe they didn't have more to give. A lot of people already give time and money. It's also something that there weren't a lot of details out there for the public to understand. Well , where is this money going to go. Mhm. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. And you mentioned that some may feel like hey we , I pay enough in taxes. These things should be addressed. How are the tax dollars being spent to address this.
S12: Well there , there are multiple avenues. You know it's not just sort of one stream of money that goes from folks pockets , you know , into homelessness. Some of it's from the federal side. Some of it comes from the state and then flows through the county. So it's kind of a complex picture. It'd be tough to trace every single dollar and where it goes. But the fact is , people do pay a lot of money in taxes here , and certainly a good chunk of it ultimately goes towards homelessness. You're talking tens of millions of dollars that the city spends on trying to solve this issue , and it remains , continues to be an intractable problem.
S1:
S12: It's always important to bookmark that in your mind. And the bigger the promise , the bigger the plan , the more important it is that you go back and check on it. So once this initiative was announced , I said , I need to keep this in mind and go back and keep an eye on things. So about 11 months had passed and I said , you know what ? Now's a good time to check back in on this. So I started reading some coverage of the story of this initiative. And in the stories they mentioned this $370 million goal. When I clicked on the link for that , I found a blank web page and I said , well , that's kind of interesting. So I was scouring around trying to find where is this $370 million goal written down somewhere ? Well , I found that the city had scrubbed it from its website , and I could only find it in something called the Internet Archive. And that's where basically different web pages are. You know , they're screenshots of webpages over time , and I saw okay for a few months this goal was there and then suddenly it was poof , gone. So that's kind of what got me started on this. And just with each question , which with each request , I found more and more information. You know , they didn't bring in very much money compared to the goal that they set out. They only spent a few thousand dollars. It was on t shirts for a cleanup. So there was just so much to unpack with this story. Yeah.
S1: And like you said , homelessness seems to be an intractable problem.
S12: This is a problem that is , you know , getting worse. And again , intractable is the best word I could use. So I really do think this effort was truly an honest effort to raise money and address this problem. Experts I spoke to though , like Jennifer Moseley , who you heard in the feature from the University of Chicago , said , you know , the city just seemed to misunderstand how philanthropy works , that if you go out and say , hey , all you , you know , wealthy philanthropists or even everyday residents , please give us your money. You really have to have a convincing message. You have to have a clear plan and a lot of infrastructure built around it. And the experts I spoke to looked at this and said , you know , we're not seeing that here. So while the city had high hopes for this , the experts I spoke to just said , you know , they didn't put enough behind it.
S1: Well , you did reach out to San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and others at the city for this story.
S12: Um , you know , I reached out , I think I counted about half a dozen times requesting an interview with the mayor or with the chief operating officer. And , you know , with each request , they would kind of dribble out a little more information. They would say , okay , well , we raised 1.3 million. And then after I'd ask again , they'd say , well , here's where we raised the money from , and here's the few thousand dollars we spent. So I kept getting this drip , drip of information , which was creating a little bit of a clearer picture. But ultimately it was something like this. You'll want to talk to someone. You want to hear how things went , you know what happened and really try to get an understanding of where things are going.
S1:
S12: As I mentioned , Eric Dargan , the city's chief operating officer , said , look , we're still pushing ahead. We don't say this is a failure and then just give up. But some of the advocates and experts I spoke to looked at this and said , yeah , I don't know if this is the best way for the city to be spending its time and energy. Jennifer Moseley from the University of Chicago told me , look , I think that they should fold up this initiative altogether and focus elsewhere. You know , she said they they can do partnerships with philanthropists and nonprofits , but it maybe doesn't have to be in this moonshot way. Or you can look to the Regional Task Force on Homelessness and figure out how can we , as a city partner with the regional task force to make a bigger impact , a broader impact. So while the city says , hey , full steam ahead , we're keeping it going. Other folks with expertise in this area said , I don't know that that maybe , maybe they should go back to the drawing board.
S1:
S12: They called them pillars. They said , we want to put tens of millions of dollars into prevention. We want to put tens of millions of dollars into getting people who are currently homeless out trying to get exit options out there. Also expanding shelter capacity. But the biggest expenditure was going to be this planned affordable housing high rise in downtown that just has not really gained traction. So they did provide some specifics on this , but not a lot. And it left a lot of people wondering. A lot of folks that I talked to , well , what else how exactly are you going to spend this money. And it does. It's worth noting that the one thing that they spent money on did not address the root causes of homelessness didn't do anything to actually pull people out of homelessness. Again , it was $2,400 on t shirts for volunteers at a downtown cleanup. So cleanups are great. But again , this initiative was supposed to address the root causes of homelessness. And in fact , some of the press release language around this cleanup pointed the finger at folks who are homeless as the source of the trash downtown. So. So that certainly jumped out to me when I was reporting on this.
S1: Very interesting. And I know it's something that you'll continue to report on. Well , I encourage everyone to go read your story on kpbs.org. I've been speaking with Scott Rod , investigative reporter with KPBS. Scott , thanks so much.
S12: Thanks so much for having me.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
