Is Washington Road homeless crackdown delivering results?

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – It’s been a month since the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office launched a homeless crackdown in the Washington Road/Interstate 20 corridor.

What’s happened in that time?

The initiative officially started July 17 when 17 businesses initially signed up to let deputies clear out trespassing homeless people and their possessions.

Neighbors also weighed in, saying this has been an issue for years that only gets attention during golf week.

DEVELOPING STORY:

• Craig Allison is looking at whether the homeless crackdown on Washington Road is delivering on its promises. Look for updates all day here on WRDW.com and on News 12.

The Richmond County Marshal’s Office is expected to join the effort because of its interaction with the homeless through cleanups, evictions, citations and more.

The agency’s efforts most recently led officers to tally up around 60,000 pounds of belongings around Elkdom Court.

In late July, the Richmond County Marshal’s Office’s Lt. R. Silas explained the latest homeless issues along Washington Road.

Housing and Urban Development had been paying for homeless people to stay in hotels – many in that neighborhood. But the program eventually exhausted its funds, which sent those same homeless individuals back to Washington Road.

The program, funded by the CARES Act due to the COVID pandemic, started with $2 million locally in 2021, but that money ran out in 2022.

He also mentioned that during a count in February, officers spoke to 173 homeless people, and 98% were not from Augusta.

With Augusta’s available resources, Silas says the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office finds homeless people are being brought in by other agencies from cities as far as Macon and Savannah – even sometimes across the state line.

It’s also why a “sister duty agreement” between Augusta and Savannah was canceled.

Silas mentioned the initiative brought homeless people from Savannah to Augusta starting 18 years ago during Hurricane Katrina. After Hurricane Ian, he says there were too many homeless people for Augusta to continue to take in.

After this meeting a day later, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office announced it received about $275,000 in grant money to hire social workers for a “co-responder” program.

The continuing issue even prompted a community meeting in west Augusta at the Brynwood Swim Club. Neighbors there were advised to reach out to Augusta 311 and direct any homeless to the Salvation Army’s Center of Hope.

However, after checking in with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office multiple times to see how the program stands, two open records requests reveal the agency has not been tracking data or statistics on this program.

Now, Augusta Commission member Sean Frantom is weighing into the effort by introducing a new panhandling ordinance to commissioners at Tuesday’s committee meetings, which he hopes to mirror Columbia County’s current ordinance.

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