Asheville street people claim stepped up police harrassment of homeless

Posted on by Bill Rhodes

Xpress has heard tales from a number of homeless and street people over the past couple of weeks of increased police scrutiny and as they put it “harassment” as they go on with their daily activities. Last week a group of five men were issued summonses for 2nd degree criminal trespass on the grounds of the Basilica of St. Lawrence while engaged in what they call Bible study. One of the men, Christopher Chiaramonte claimed to have permission from the church to be on the property. All of the men said they were not asked to move on by police, just detained and told they were under arrest for trespass.

After speaking with the men, several sources at the Basilica and APD, it appears Chiaramonte did not have explicit permission from church staff to be on the property. The church does not generally call the police unless there is a complaint to them or a threat to the property. As property manager Bud Hansbury says “This is a church, there are always some interesting people around. That is part of our mission, and what makes life interesting.” The church did not call police on Chiaramonte’s group and was not aware of the situation. Like many establishments in urban areas, they do have an agreement with APD about trespassing, and the property is posted.

An APD spokesman says there is no change in the city’s enforcement of quality of life laws downtown. According to Lt. Wally Welch, “The weather is nice, the bicycle, foot, and Segway patrols are more active, there is bound to be more activity with these types of incidents.”

So, draconian crackdown? Or just a normal run of events? Let us hear from you.

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7 thoughts on “Asheville street people claim stepped up police harrassment of homeless”

  3. Matthew Burd

    Somebody is lying and it will come out in court who that is. The police do not have the authotity to arrest anyone for trespassing unless the owner of the property or the person responcible for the property first asks them to leave. Police may not enter private property without explicit permision or a warrent. Either the Church is lying or the APD has broken a few laws here and will be subject to lawsuit.

    Empower yourself with knowledge

    • bill smith

      Do police not have the authority to enforce a posted ‘no trespassing’ sign?

      “Police may not enter private property without explicit permision or a warrent”

      You might want to research that a bit further.

      Empower yourself with knowledge

  4. missemmalee

    I was kinda speeding. I got a ticket. Someone is OBVIOUSLY lying. Can I sue?

    The only police action that is in any predicament here is the Grammar Police.

  5. Matthew Burd

    The only police action that is in a predicament here is they don’t know the law.

  6. sharpleycladd

    This is CNN-journalism. “They said this, but he said that – what do YOU think?”

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