Crews spent the weekend cleaning up trash like this at homeless camps throughout Colorado Springs
/ FOX21: Adam Jukkola
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- There's no camping allowed anywhere within the city on public property, but that isn't stopping the homeless from living in isolated parts of town. These makeshift campgrounds have turned into their homes, and they're littered with food, trash and clothes.
"The first clean up they took me on was overwhelming," Early Morgan, a Keep Colorado Springs Beautiful volunteer, said. "Just seeing how people were down on their luck and living there by the creek."
The Colorado Springs Police Department's Homeless Outreach Team along with a small group of volunteers spent the weekend cleaning up the mess. They gave the people living in these camps a 72 hour notice to take their things and head to a local shelter.
Most of the campgrounds were abandoned, but there were some people that refused to leave. CSPD found one man living in a homeless camp at the first of three that were cleaned Saturday. He was given a written warning with a specific shelter referral.
Springs police said they're not seeing an increase in our city's homeless count, but it's a problem that can create some serious health issues.
"When you have several truck loads of trash that we'll collect typically that'll go into water," Officer Brett Iverson with the Colorado Springs Police Department said.
CSPD is staying on top of the homeless and cleaning up the mess before it can get worse. The Homeless Outreach Team does campground clean ups once a month. On average they can clean 4-5 sites in a day.
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