Norman Police Department will clear a homeless encampment at Frances Cate Park at 10 p.m. Monday, according to Ward 8 Councilmember Scott Dixon.
NPD and individuals from the city’s community outreach services division were on site Friday to give those occupying the encampment a 72-hour notice to vacate the park and to connect them with resources, according to Norman’s Chief Communications Officer Tiffany Vrska.
Sarah Schettler, NPD public information officer, said officers began site visits "several days ago" to ensure encampment occupants are aware of park hours. Schettler said enforcement will only be taken if necessary.
Vrska said the park, at 333 N. Carter Ave., is closed to the public from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and is leased by the city from the state, but the areas surrounding the park are “state property outright” and are not under the city’s jurisdiction.
During council’s Tuesday conference meeting, City Manager Darrel Pyle said a provision in the lease for the park states the land must be used as a public municipal park or the lease will lapse and the land will go back to the state.
The city’s oversight committee meeting discussed clearing the encampment during Thursday’s meeting. Vrska said Pyle reached out to council members who were not present at the meeting to seek further direction for city staff in clearing the encampment.
“They wanted to ensure that there was full consensus from council as far as direction for staff to begin the process to clear the park,” Vrska said.
Jeremy Walker, Cleveland County director of communications, wrote in a Monday email to OU Daily the sheriff’s office is “aware of concerns regarding the encampment” and deputies will provide additional presence on state property.
“The Sheriff’s Office will enforce applicable laws and respond to any lawful trespassing complaints made by agencies of state property,” Walker wrote.
Walker wrote the sheriff’s office is not able to comment on specific operational plans or timelines for the clearing of the encampment.
Dixon said at least five council members were in favor of clearing the encampment, including himself.
“We should go ahead and enforce our rules and return the park to the moms and the kids and the families that wanna use that park,” Dixon said. “I don’t know where (the individuals) go. I’m assuming they go where they came from before they were next to Food and Shelter and at Frances Cate Park.”
In late April, NPD and Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office planned to clear an encampment surrounding Food and Shelter at 201 Reed Ave., but efforts were postponed due to a misfiling, according to Ward 4 Councilmember Helen Grant.
Dixon said the encampment at Frances Cate Park is seeing “vigilante justice” among those residing in it.
“One person has already been seriously wounded because I guess they've established their own kind of police force in the camp and one person might be looking at felony charges,” Dixon said. “It’s just a really, really bad situation and it needs to not be in a city park.”
Dixon said the encampment has grown and is now “unmanageable.”
This story was edited by Reagan Rozzi.
