Danville police chief says shelter not a threat

Danville Police Chief Philip Broadfoot said he does not anticipate increased problems in the downtown area due to the House of Hope homeless shelter’s moving to Ridge Street.

Broadfoot said extra patrols were not needed at the Claiborne Street address, and he feels they will not need them at the new Ridge Street location either.

“People are there because they want to be,” Broadfoot said. “In the evenings, the need for patrols will be negligible. They are in the shelter for the night, safe, sound, fed and watching TV.”

During the day, he said he expects they will do what they did when they were at the Claiborne Street location: Come downtown to the library, Free Clinic, Social Services or other agencies.

Despite laws against panhandling, there is still some going on all over Danville, Broadfoot said. He hopes to see that decrease as people come to realize the only way to stop it is to say “no.”

“You can’t blame people for panhandling if people give them money,” Broadfoot said. “If all we had to do was ask to get money, we’d probably all panhandle.”

Broadfoot said all guests at the shelter are required to bring proof to the shelter that they are not wanted by the police. They go to the police station and ask to have their records checked, and return to the shelter — or are taken there by patrol officers — with proof in hand that they are not wanted anywhere in the country.

“People come here and say, ‘check my records so I can go there (the shelter);’ with that mindset, there are very few problems,” Broadfoot said.

Of course, if it is discovered that the person is wanted, “we put them in our shelter,” Broadfoot said.

Shelter operators themselves can check sex offender registries online to see if potential guests are on the list, Broadfoot said, noting that he understands both the original shelter and House of Hope will not accept anyone who is on the sex offender registry.

Broadfoot said he does not see having 10 to 16 people willingly living at the downtown shelter resulting in an increase in crime, or of causing increased risk to students and teachers at Galileo Magnet High School.

“Within four blocks of Galileo, there are sex offenders living legally, there have been murders, drug crimes, shots fired, prostitution, stabbings,” Broadfoot said. “Felons and mentally ill people are in high concentration within four blocks already.”