City to end use of costly ‘eviction mercenaries’ to clear homeless camps in Wichita parks -...

So now what?

Maj Kim Patterson
"Along walking trails, hidden in the thorny shadows, among cottonwoods and graffiti, many in Wichita’s homeless community have taken up shelter in Wichita’s more than 5,000 acres of parkland.

The city of Wichita has increasingly taken steps to disrupt their lives, posting eviction notices on their tents and ordering private contractors to remove their belongings if they aren’t gone within 72 hours. The city calls the practice “outsourced homeless camp cleanups.” New research shows it can have devastating health impacts on homeless people.

During a 12-month stretch starting in April 2022, the city’s parks department paid private contractors $140,000 to clear 139 campsites. City maintenance workers cleared an additional 100 camps."...