Grants Pass Shifts Homeless Camp Location in Response to Crime Rises
Grants Pass has shut down one homeless camp location and opened another in response to rising crime around the resting sites near City Hall.
According to the Daily Courier, the city recently closed and cleaned a camping site in a parking lot near the corner of 5th and A Streets across from City Hall. Another visible site remains open at the corner of 6th and A Streets.
The new camping area is located just to the north in a parking area along 6th. The changes were made due to rising crime in the patrol area that includes the homeless sites, Police Chief Warren Hensman said this week.
Police regularly patrol the camping areas, respond to calls, and have surveillance cameras in place, but the locations aren't supervised by on-site staff.
During a five-month window that ended November 1, police recorded 5,642 incidents in the quadrant of the city including the camps by City Hall, according to the Citizen Connect crime portal.
That marked an increase of 606 incidents compared to the 5,036 recorded since the last five-month window that ended November 1, 2024.
Posted on 11/26/25 1:06PM by Alex Bauer
