Letter: Intruder in a yard, in HMB

Comment 1 by Anneliese Agren  on  Aug 03  at  2:48pm  •  All my comments • 

One night I was talking on the phone in my dark living room, (long phone conversation that had lingered past sunset), and I’m gazing out the window and find a man in black sweatshirt and beanie exiting my yard through the front gate(!).

Somewhat similar experience to yours, although I did not phone the police because I couldn’t see him to recognize him, he’d exited and slipped away into the night. If this happens again I’ll open my front door and let the dog go after him, then I’ll call the cops.

Thanks to Barry for posting this story. I wanted it to get some daylight as it was an upsetting and unnerving experience, and my interactions with the HMB police department left me feeling less than safe.

They arrived in response to my 9-1-1 call at 12:30 am and did do a brief walkthrough of my gated and fenced back yard where I found this person “sleeping” within 10 feet of my bedroom sliding glass door. As the intruder had left the premises by the time they arrived, they really had nothing to go on. Nonetheless, I explained to them that my logical extrapolation of what is now the third incident involving the Myrtle Street walkthrough (homeless encamped there) and my yard (large items (bike) thrown over the fence), then just a few weeks later a person laying on the lawn in the middle of the night, is that the next event will involve someone entering my home.

I was provided with only the suggestion that I might get a larger dog. No other support from HMB finest about options for contacting the city for help with clean up of the walkthrough, more patrols, etc. Instead, I was told that the crime rate in HMB is low, that homeless people have rights too, and that it is basically a “safe area.” That is all well and good, until I or my family becomes victims of a burglary or an assault. I wasn’t aware that homeless have rights when they trespass on my gated yard by climbing over a 7 ft tall fence or entering through a gate.

I am interested in whether others in HMB have experienced these types of intrusions and in the response they received from HMB police. I would regret if it took a more serious incident to get more action from the police.

Comment 3 by Anneliese Agren  on  Aug 03  at  9:18pm  •  All my comments • 

Does the City of Half Moon Bay offer any programs to the homeless? This is not my area of expertise, so if someone is familiar and well-versed in the City’s homeless solution, please describe.

I believe the homeless enjoy the same rights as we with homes do, just as we would also be told to move along, should we camp along the shoulder of the road. We’re all subject to the same laws and restrictions.

So what programs does the City offer toward which law enforcement would sweep, or currently sweeps, the homeless? Does the City have a homeless policy? Does the City clear out the bush camps and clean up the vegetation so as to limit safe cover?