In our exploration of the city we saw several law enforcement agencies, including Anaheim Police Department which seemed to have the heaviest presence, along with the Anaheim Fire Department, and Parking Enforcement.Our group had the opportunity to speak with several Law Enforcement Agents along with the Anaheim Police Department. Each person we spoke with had a range of experience and years with their departments. Because of the diversity in the individuals we spoke with we were able to obtain different insights on varying issues that the city faced along with the solutions that the city has attempted to implement.
We were specifically able to speak with At the APD office on Harbor Boulevard, Cadet Daniels, at the APD office on Harbor Boulevard, who responded to our questions regarding the City of Anaheim and its issues with the homeless community. He stated that "We just tell them to move along. They are cognitive for the most part. We really do not have a problem with having too many homeless people." (C. Daniels, personal communication, August 20, 2009). This statement spoke volumes towards the “status quo” of the resurroudning area and that of the City of Anaheim, who rely heavily on the industry of tourism. There is a facade that there are no problems or issues within the city, when in reality, there is a large amount of transients in the city of Anaheim.
When APD was asked about the transient situation in Anaheim, they pointed us towards La Palma Park, a common day-time hang out for the area’s homeless. When we arrived at the park, next to a large and well maintained football arena, partnered with a City Recreation Center, we found a dozen or more transients and their pets loitering, drinking, and inhabiting the shadiest area of this park. Despite the signs prohibiting such activity, a local business owner, who refused to give name or contact information, said that the transients were reported to the city and police on a regular basis. He also stated that these individuals were bad for the motel business which was located across the street and that “The City says that there is no problem in this area with homeless people”, (Anonymous, personal conversation, August 20, 2009) yet the police refuse to help, and allow the transients to continue their activities which affect business. As a group we were also able to observe that while we were there, there were no police present. One of the men hanging out in the park mentioned that Disney buses children to this particular park in order to use the recreation center during the summer months, yet the children’s designated play area was consumed by shopping carts.
Another significant presence of social control included signs through out the city. From one end of town to the other, we saw signs reporting projects in progress or completed by Dept of Public Works. Other signage included: “Drug free zone”, “Overnight parking prohibited”, “Tobacco use prohibited”, and of course the dreaded “No Parking.” Various parks also had “Public Notice” signs regarding Gang activity, drug use, lude acts, and alcohol consumption. There were also a notable amount of signs from the City Department of Public Works. These signs seemed to be largely enforced by the Anaheim Policy Department.
