Tempe, AZ – In response to resident concerns and needs in city parks, the City of Tempe is acting to make changes that respect all people and improve the experience of visiting and using these important community amenities. Changes include additional outreach by the city’s HOPE and CARE 7 teams for community crisis services assistance, heightened enforcement of park rules and added security.

The enhanced response is designed to ensure that parks are safe and welcoming spaces for all. Tempe believes parks are spaces where communities are built, and that clean and safe spaces are imperative to promoting healthy communities. In making these changes, Tempe emphasizes that parks are community spaces open to all.

These changes come as Tempe, with intention, is accelerating and expanding its homeless response to address critical health and safety concerns and meet growing needs. The response aims to help both unsheltered people and the broader community. Led by the Human Services Department, the city is intensifying outreach, adding shelter capacity, designing new programs and services for those in need, creating new tools for residents and businesses to help, and addressing encampments.

Encampments in the Salt River bed have also recently been addressed for health and safety reasons, following sharply increasing calls for service there in recent years for fires and other emergency response. Tempe Fire Medical Rescue calls for service in the area increased from six in 2017 to 71 in 2021. In 2017, three of those calls were for fire suppression; that number grew to 44 fire suppression calls in 2021.

Some people who lived in the riverbed have accepted our help and others have not, which is anyone’s right. Remaining in the riverbed no trespass area is not an option. As anticipated, some people formerly in the riverbed have relocated themselves to other parts of the city, including parks. Tempe is actively responding to and managing this concern specific to parks.

Added security
Tempe will soon be piloting the addition of more unarmed security guards working more hours at various parks. Some private security is already in place in parks and more will be added in the coming weeks. This approach has been successful in the city, with security guards serving as immediate resources for visitors to support park rules, problem-solve on the spot, engage with those in need and notify Tempe Police about illegal activity. This upcoming bolstered private security presence is in addition to increased Tempe Police patrols around parks.

Updated park rules
Also part of a pilot program, new rules have been implemented at various parks to prohibit blocking access to any park amenity, causing damage to landscaping and using ramadas for longer than four hours without a reservation. In addition, heightened patrols will combat the use of illegal drugs and the possession of illegal drug paraphernalia such as hypodermic needles within parks.

Deepened collaboration with nonprofit groups and our faith communities
Tempe appreciates the compassion and intentions of the many existing nonprofit groups, churches and faith communities that are offering services to unsheltered people. The city has a long history of supporting and working with local nonprofits. We look forward to deepening those relationships and working with nonprofits to examine and try new, comprehensive, coordinated approaches to helping unsheltered people while respecting the rights of all community members. All partners are integral to the solutions we can offer, and Tempe believes there are opportunities to strengthen the existing bridges among those working on this issue. Discussions of this kind are ongoing now.

Accelerated response
Last month, the city launched three important new tools for residents and businesses. Anyone can call the 24/7 CARE & HOPE Line at 480-350-8004 to help a person in need or experiencing homelessness. A new encampment reporting tool provides a simple way to share information about encampments citywide. Find the form on the city’s 311 app or at tempe.gov/311. A new public dashboard provides data related to our homeless outreach and encampment efforts; find it at homeless-solutions.tempe.gov.

Key to Tempe’s enhanced efforts is even more outreach throughout Tempe by the HOPE team. Every day, dedicated staff members are reaching out to unsheltered people across the city to offer services and housing options.

Learn more

The enhanced homeless response is driven by the city’s goal to make homelessness a rare, brief and one-time experience. Learn more about these efforts at tempe.gov/HomelessResponse. Sign up to receive city updates about homelessness, housing and human services at tempe.gov/enews and select “Housing and Homelessness News.”  

About the City of Tempe
Tempe makes waves as a technology and business magnet, an inclusive, caring community and a hub for recreation and adventure. Visit us.

Tempe City Council has set five priorities to ensure our city thrives. We track our progress on those priorities by collecting data on more than 100 performance measures and showing it on a public dashboard. See the goals and data: tempe.gov/StrategicManagement.