By Staff Reporter |
The city of Tucson is tasking employees to track the bathroom visits by the homeless in public parks.
The city is assigning employees to create a weekly census of the homeless people who use park bathrooms, in addition to ramadas. These city employees work within the Parks Assistance and Community Engagement (PACE), a newer unit within its Parks and Recreation department created over the summer specifically to observe and address the homeless.
PACE refers to its responses to homelessness-related concerns as “Homeless Protocol assessments.”
PACE consists of one supervisor, three coordinators, and five groundskeepers. The city considers PACE the Parks and Recreation department’s dedicated response team for homelessness-related concerns in parks, and the leader for community engagement initiatives.
In total, the city department employs 55 people to manage the bathrooms and ramadas across its 130 parks.
PACE works alongside the city’s Homeless Outreach, Environmental Services, and the Tucson Police Department to respond to homelessness-related issues.
A memorandum issued during the city council’s study session last Tuesday revealed that the city will apply the PACE-collected data to measure the effectiveness of localized cleanups; resources offered by the city’s Community Safety, Health, and Wellness team; and Tucson Police Department enforcement of the after-hours no-camping ordinance.
The city council banned camping in parks, along with city washes, earlier this summer in a 5-1 vote in an effort to address the mass homeless encampments taking over in those public areas. Those who violate the ban may face misdemeanor charges that may result in a $250 fine and community service or up to 10 days in jail.
The city was moved to pass the ordinance, which mainly impacts the homeless, after residents successfully sued the city for intentionally failing to address the homeless encampments in public areas. A court ruled last year that the city intentionally adopted a protocol that consented to the nuisance and crimes committed by the homeless in their encampments.
The pressure of that court decision was compounded by Proposition 312, a measure voters passed, also last year, that awards a tax credit to certain property owners burdened by homeless encampments. Individuals may file for reimbursement if they’re required to take protective measures, like installing protective bars or video cameras, against a public nuisance that their local government has declined to address.
Residents have routinely complained during public comment at city meetings that the homeless encampments are hotbeds for crime, including public indecency, public defecation, open-air drug use, arson, physical and sexual assaults, and even murder.
According to the Point-in-Time count from this year, the city had around 2,130 recorded homeless in Tucson and Pima County. This latest count reflected a 4% decrease, or 88 fewer individuals, compared to the count in 2025.
This slight decline fails to make a dent in recent the explosive growth in homelessness in recent years. From 2019 to 2020, the city reported that homelessness in the area increased by 300%.
The ongoing problem of homelessness prompted city leaders to declare an emergency earlier this year. The emergency declaration is set to expire next February, and it enables expeditions of permit requests from nonprofits and charitable entities who aid the city with providing resources to the homeless.
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