Westminster police report steady homeless‑liaison activity; navigation center at capacity

The Westminster Police Department presented its second‑quarter report on homelessness services and outreach on Aug. 13, telling the City Council that the Homeless Liaison Officer team remained heavily engaged and that the city’s navigation center was at capacity.

Why it matters: The HLO program handles street outreach, referrals and enforcement when necessary, and council members pressed staff for information about beds, incidents and outcomes. The report summarized operational activity and showed the navigation center working at full capacity.

Key figures and details: Police staff said the HLO team—four specialized officers and two caseworkers—conducted 547 outreach visits during the quarter, made 24 shelter referrals, completed 56 arrests (used as a last-resort tool), issued 54 citations (including for camping/sleeping in public) and cleared 68 encampments with the help of the Community Preservation Unit. Staff reported 24 successful street exits during the quarter and said the navigation center remained full, with staff forwarding referrals to other county shelters when the local shelter was at capacity.

Questions from council and staff response: Council members asked whether there had been any major incidents at the navigation center; police said they were not aware of major incidents during the quarter. Staff also noted that some complaints received about encampments involve areas outside city jurisdiction (for example, flood-control channels), in which case staff refer the matter to the entity that has authority.

Next steps: Police said the city will present a navigation‑center operator report at the council’s first September meeting to summarize the first year of operations and offer more detailed outcomes. Council members asked that staff continue to report quarterly on outreach, shelter referrals and enforcement outcomes.

Ending: Council received and filed the report by unanimous vote; staff said the HLO team continues to operate at a high level of activity and will return with a navigation-center update at the next month’s meeting.