SACRAMENTO, CA – A new analysis from the Sacramento County Department of Health Services reveals nearly one-third of people booked into the county jail system are experiencing homelessness, shedding light on how the criminal justice system continues to function as a revolving door for those without stable housing, according to the Sacramento Bee.
As The Sacramento Bee reported, both the Sacramento Police Department and the Sacramento County Regional Parks Rangers have increased arrests for illegal camping since a June 2024 Supreme Court decision upheld the legality of such enforcement.
The Bee emphasized these arrests form part of a wider criminalization of unhoused people in the county.
According to the Bee, more than 700 homeless individuals are arrested each month in Sacramento County, often for offenses either directly or indirectly tied to their housing status.
“Our lifestyle shouldn’t be illegal,” said Regina Camacho, who spoke to the Bee after being arrested in February for unlawful camping.
The Sacramento Bee also noted that the cost of incarceration is significant.
Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office reported to the outlet that housing an inmate costs an average of $199.73 per day, not including transportation or medical expenses, said the Bee, adding that if each homeless person spent just one day in jail per arrest, the annual cost would exceed $2.1 million.
In addition to the financial burden, the Sacramento Bee documented the social impacts of repeated incarceration on unhoused individuals.
One woman, noted The Bee, referred to as Williams, lost her vital documents including her birth certificate and Social Security card during a police sweep. As the Bee reported, those items were required for her Section 8 housing application, and their loss delayed her efforts to secure stable housing.
As reported by the Bee, Williams also had to seek help from a nonprofit organization to recover her documents and replace basic necessities like a tent and food for her dogs. The article described how she was rearrested just a month later, restarting the cycle of instability.
The Sacramento Bee added Sacramento County does not currently offer any structured reentry services for people who are released from jail without a home, writing one woman interviewed by the outlet said, “They offered me a court date,” when asked whether she was given housing assistance or other support.
In response to these patterns, the Sacramento Bee noted California State Senator Sasha Pérez (D-Pasadena) introduced a bill in March aimed at ending the prosecution of non-violent, homeless-related offenses. The bill is currently under legislative review, but enforcement actions continue, explains the Bee.
The Sacramento Bee noted short-term jail stays often worsen the situation for people living in poverty, sometimes pushing them into deeper instability or homelessness, reporting, “Among people who are already living in poverty, jail time can nudge them into homelessness.”
