Anchorage city workers collected piles of dirty blankets, beer cans and other belongings from two homeless camps Saturday, as part of the city’s crackdown on homeless camps. Police officers had earlier warned homeless squatters to leave parks and greenbelts.
AÂ new law requires police to give illegal campers 15 days to leave, or as few as three if the city stores their belongings.
A 2009 city law had allowed police to toss out campers and throw away their belongings with as little as 12 hours’ notice. But a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union argued that the short time frame violated individual property rights.
A judge struck down the law, and the Assembly approved new rules in April.
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