Ketchikan homeless laws provide police more authority
The Ketchikan City Council last winter approved updates to its municipal code that limit where people can sit, lie or camp within city limits. The changes were met with both support and opposition, with some arguing that they could negatively impact the city’s unhoused population.
Derek McGarrigan is the deputy chief of the Ketchikan Police Department. He said the biggest change the department has seen with the new laws is authority to move campsites that are in public.
“There wasn’t anything enforceable in place to take care of that specific arena beforehand, and that’s where a lot of the frustration was coming from, from community members,” McGarrigan said.
That code change makes it a violation to camp or use camping supplies on city-owned or leased property, including public pedestrian ways, city-owned parking lots, and transit shelters. It was passed alongside two other ordinances: one that limits sitting or lying in public areas, with some exceptions; and another that deals with trespassing and trespass warnings.
McGarrigan said the new laws have not directly led to an uptick in arrests. There’s only been two related to the ordinances since they’ve gone into effect. And neither of the arrests were related to the camping law, because violators of that law can only be issued citations.
Instead, McGarrigan said the new laws, specifically the one that deals with camping, have primarily been used as a tool to move trespassers along. Those camping on city property have 72 hours to leave after police contact them. McGarrigan said most people camping on city property who have been asked to leave have been compliant.
The same is true for the law that limits sitting and lying in public areas, which is a misdemeanor if violated and could lead to an arrest.
“I can’t think of really any off the top of my head, any cases where somebody calls about somebody laying downtown and we go arrest them for laying in public,” McGarrigan said. “Like I don’t think anybody’s had that occur yet.”
Outside of offering unhoused people a ride elsewhere, which is sometimes to a shelter, McGarrigan said that the police department’s resources to help them are limited. He said that’s where other community services step in.
But right now, there are just a few shelters for Ketchikan’s unhoused population to turn to. The city’s main homeless shelter closed in 2024. And the local tribe’s temporary winter warming shelter isn’t yet open for the season.
According to documents from the city manager’s office, the three ordinances were created to “address health, safety, and economic prosperity within the City.” McGarrigan said the police use the new laws on an “as needed basis.”
“The end goal isn’t to take somebody to jail,” McGarrigan said. “I just don’t want people to be overly concerned that that’s all we’re looking to do and that’s all we’re trying to do.”
McGarrigan said he’s proud that officers have used their discretion to enforce the new laws.
Hunter Morrison is a Report for America corps member for KRBD. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution.
