Operation Poncho: Broadway / Corporation of London

[dunksplace]

Sadly no, i bumped into a friend on friday, who informed that the streets in the city of london are being regulary washdown, but they have stopped handding out the pink welfare check slips.

which is a worry fact, and means there is less Accountability

sadly i don't have as much street contacted but, i have notified friends at the simon community and the pavement about my concerns...

love and hugs.. dunk

[dunksplace]

some latest news from this months Pavement Magazene http://www.thepavement.org.uk/

"July 2009 The Pavement, July 2009 / 11
News-in-Brief
The homeless news from around the bazaars
Stop & Search and Poncho
Operation Poncho, the controversial
practice of washing
down areas where people are
sleeping in the middle of the
night, appears to be building up
steam in the City of London.
In just one week in June, an
area of Salisbury Square used by
rough sleepers was hosed down
four times by council workers,
with support from police.
Peter Pickles, who occasionally
sleeps out in Salisbury Square,
said: “[Operation Poncho] had
died down a bit over the last few
months, but recently it’s been
happening more, until we had
four wash-downs last week. They
spray the area with cold water, so
it doesn’t clean anything – they’re
just trying to get people moved on”.
Mr Pickles said he had noticed
differences in the operation of
Poncho this time: “Before, police
would do a welfare check and give
us a ‘Stop and Search’ form every
time they woke us up. Now they
don’t take any information or
give us a form, so we can’t prove
how often this is happening. I
feel like I’d have to go to court to
get someone to hear about it”.
The number of police officers
being used in Poncho operations
has also increased, according to
Mr Pickles, who claimed there
were now as many as three police
officers on every wash-down.
“It’s absurd,” he said. “When
there are two council workers
washing a street with cold water,
and three policemen watching
them do it, they’re obviously
just trying to get rid of us”.
A City of London Police spokesman
to us: “City of London Police
is working with partner agencies
to promote community safety
within the Square Mile and explain
to people that it is not safe to
be sleeping out on the streets.
“Officers work alongside City of
London Corporation staff and the
homeless charity Broadway – which
provides people sleeping rough with
access to support services to help
them change their lives and move
them away from the streets. City of
London Police is also responding to
community concern about people
sleeping rough and the rubbish/sanitation
problems related to that.”
Why this has to happen in the
early hours still remains a question.
You can see video footage of
Operation Poncho on our website:
www.thepavement.org.uk
Jim O’Reilly
• This being the age of social
networking there is a Facebook
page to protest this practice
– Stop the Washdown."

[Tom.]

A meeting was recently convened in London and was chaired by a member from the 'British Institute for Human Rights.' (BIHR)
The purpose of the meeting was to identify any breaches of human rights that are occurring during the [ongoing] Operation Poncho exercise here in the Financial city of London.
A representative from the charity Broadway was present, and also a Superintendent from the London police, other homeless charities, and church groups opposed to Operation Poncho were also represented.

The meeting itself was constructive, and a warning shot was fired by the BIHR across the bows of the Corporation of London regarding the tactics being deployed by Operation Poncho against Londons street homeless people.
Further meetings are planned, and it is hoped that representatives from the powers directly involved with the planning of the Operation Poncho street clearing exercise will accept the invitations to attend those meetings.

[Feenix]

I read through this thread the other day and I have to say that this 'wetting down' thing is a despicable way to behave towards someone who is having to get by on the streets ! It actually made me quite angry when I first read about this. Maybe if all these 'organisations' channeled their efforts into real help instead of trying to sweep the problem under the carpet,then everyone might come out of it for the better ?
Is there any more info on this...any updates ??

[beatonthestreet]

Originally Posted by Feenix

Is there any more info on this...any updates ??

BBC ran some stuff today on the politics Show: link

Thhe show itself is on iplayer here I presume this maybe only available in the UK to view...

There is a thread Protecting rough sleepers’ rights Guide which is related to the current situation as well...

[ncn]

December 13th 2009

The Pavement . http://www.thepavement.org.uk/story.php?story=898
had received reports that Operation Poncho - a policy in the City of London whereby rough sleepers have seen the areas they bed-down in soaked with water in the middle of the night - was to cease.

But the City of London has said this is not the case - Operation Poncho remains part of the policy to get people off the streets. A City of London spokesman said: "The City of London Corporation, working in partnership with Broadway and the City of London Police continue to engage with rough sleepers in the City of London to reduce the risk of people dying on the streets and get them into accommodation."

The scheme has courted controversy - Pavement readers have complained of feeling harassed and disorientated when woken at 3am by a water bowser, and given coffee and cigarettes while they are questioned by authorities.

Poncho is not permanently active, but has run for a period of weeks twice in 2009.
The Pavement is now working with Housing Justice and human rights charity Liberty to produce and distribute a leaflet for rough sleepers, so they understand their rights when approached by police or outreach workers.

[LicenseToFish]

"The City of London Corporation, working in partnership with Broadway and the City of London Police continue to engage with rough sleepers in the City of London to reduce the risk of people dying on the streets and get them into accommodation."

Yes, but by that they mean PRISON.

Tom, or anybody who is reading (and I would expect that includes someone in the Metropolitan police)

I have absolutely no idea what you are doing on the streets of England!

Several people on this thread have expressed shock and concern. I can only guess that they arent poor in your country.
Though I once did for a few years, many years ago, I left.

And, Tom, I did so because my bottom jaw was being injured on those bumps on the floor every time I waited to cross a street. Yknow the ones they have for blind people. And that was because my jaw was constantly open to a degree appropriate to the Holocaustal, Genocidal APOCALYPSE that is happening there.

Seriously Tom, why are you even there anymore? In Nazi Germany, would a Jew be homeless?! When I think about Nazi Germany, and then I think about the British government, I actually associate Nazi Germany to St. Francis of Assisi.

Thats how evil the British are! We will hear terrible stories from all over the world, but nothing can be as bad as whats going on there. Frankly Im amazed youre not in jail already.

Basically your complaint or commentary is interesting and newsworthy, but it is also inevitable. Leave.

While they still let you.

[ncn]

Don't be discouraged "LicensceToFish". It's often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock.
Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts.

"Between you and every goal that you wish to achieve, there is a series of obstacles, and the bigger the goal, the bigger the obstacles. Your decision to be, have and do something out of the ordinary entails facing difficulties and challenges that are out of the ordinary as well. Sometimes your greatest asset is simply your ability to stay with it longer than anyone else."

ncn.

[LicenseToFish]

those are wise words, ncn and I have taken a note of them. thankfully my goal -at least at present-isnt to live in the UK!

I wish everyone roughing it there the best of luck. All I am saying is, I would HIGHLY recommend that you leave any jurisdiction in which the UK Government has the power of law enforcement.