I have to agree with this complaint. Just like Moore Square, I now avoid Nash Square. I feel unsafe with all the vagrants camped out.

I can no longer take my family here any more, Nash Square no longer belongs to the citizens if the citizens can't enjoy this park.

Hey, a quick comment. I live across the street from Nash Square and the vagrants are really more of a nuisance than a danger. I walk through it all the time and have never felt unsafe..

But it does seem like we have had a sharp increase in the homeless hanging out in the park, particularly after dark. Maybe they have been run out of somewhere else? Would be nice if officers could do a quick walk through at night, especially in the wee hours.

All this being said, it looks like there has been an increase in attention to the area. Saw a mounted Raleigh PD officer patrolling and interacting with a possible homeless guy this morning. Thanks for all you all do! :)

Maybe Raleigh could turn it into a KOA campground and earn some revenue.

I see stuff like this every day. It really makes me glad that I am moving out of Raleigh in the near future.

DTR Rocks,

The main reason that there has been a sharp increase as of late is because they get free food delivered to them... if I was homeless, I would live in Nash Square... three squares a day free... and I don't have to go anywhere, the food comes to me.

Thank the Raleigh Rescue Mission and the Salvation Army.

If I had the means, I would totally start a soup kitchen in front of the homes of the people responsible for this.

There should be a law about giving people free food in the public squares daily. Homelessness is a problem but it shouldnt be solved by taking away the ability of law abiding and tax paying citizens that pay for the park. If the missions want to feed people, hand out vouchers and tickets for them to come to their mission, not to camp out in the park I pay for.

Amen!

"Homeless People" are citizens too !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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"so if there was anyone sleeping there they would get caught in quick order"

NEGATIVE. Obviously you have not been to Nash Square anytime lately. I live close by in a condo, and it has become a problem. It wasn't a problem in past summers, but most evenings now there are people sleeping there with all their belongings. It's a sad situation, but Nash Square is NOT a place for people to live, sleep, and urinate.

Downtown Raleigh's parks and squares are the filthiest of any city in the southeast. I have never seen so many homeless people and trash in a city's front yard. I'd like to invite the city council to have their annual retreat and a picnic outside in Moore Square.

I bet if the homeless were bused and get at Lassiter Mill Park the outrage would be heard across the city and the city would miraculously fix this 'problem'.

Welcome to Raleigh

I am sure these people who go to the park and feed people regularly do it with good intentions, but it's kind of like feeding feral cats. They are taking away the ability of regular people who pay for this park to enjoy it.

I agree with some of these other posts. If you're so keen on regularly feeding the homeless in the squares, invite them over to your own house each day to do it.

I took my grandchildren to Raleigh to go to the Natural Science Museum and Marbles Museum. We went to see the Firefighter Memorial in Nash Square and every park bench in the shade had vagrants camped out. EVERY one. What was worse, the air stunk like body odor. It was disgusting and I am saddened that downtown Raleigh has become like this. I would not even cross Moore Square.

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I saw a homeless man choking another homeless man yesterday in Moore Square... in the middle of a group of other homeless people. Nobody did anything.

The homeless "miraculously disappeared" for the WTC steel and unveiling and memorial this past weekend but are right back out there this morning when I walked my dog.

Last year we worked closely with the City Attorney’s office and City Council to support/craft a new begging and panhandling ordinance designed to address this growing problem in Raleigh; especially downtown. When the ordinance was passed earlier this year we conducted an education campaign giving numerous warnings and handing out several hundred flyers to potential violators. After more than a month of warnings, we moved to enforcement of the new ordinance. During the Spring and Summer months of 2011 we have charged more than 120 violators with the new begging ordinance. Roughly half of those were physically arrested. The feedback from the business owners and those who work in downtown Raleigh has been very favorable thus far and our goal is to sustain this progress by maintaining assertive enforcement and high visibility.

Additionally, we have assigned Officer Bruno, our Community Bike officer, the task of checking both parks every shift. We have instructed him to strictly enforce the ordinances related to sleeping/camping/begging/alcohol consumption, etc. This effort has resulted in numerous documented encounters as well as a good number of enforcement actions taken in both Nash and Moore Square. Officer Bruno has also partnered with the “Raleigh Ambassadors” personnel to quickly identify and address overt criminal activity.

Our supervisors on each shift are encouraged to have their officers conduct foot patrols in Nash Square, Moore Square, the Transit Mall area as well as many other hot spots within our area of responsibility. The DTD Officers have embraced this assignment and are being proactive. In fact, just yesterday, the squad that was working conducted a project in Moore Square utilizing a confidential informant to help them locate and arrest a suspect who was selling marijuana in the area. This suspect was a repeat offender and will likely qualify for prosecution as a habitual felon netting him 7 years in prison if convicted.

We have sent community officers and supervisors to attend meetings with residents of the Hue where they fielded similar concerns about Nash Square. RPD has met with David Diaz with the Downtown Raleigh Alliance and discussed similar issues specifically related to Moore Square. We all agree that having a “soup kitchen” in proximity to the park coupled with regular feedings and hand-outs by the local churches makes it very difficult to keep the park from looking like a campground. I’m sure this issue will get further attention if and when the City moves forward with the proposed architectural changes to Moore Square Park.

For now, DTD Officers will continue to emphasize high visibility and enforcement of the applicable ordinances in these areas, while being mindful to protect the basic rights granted every citizen .

We are going to close this issue at this point, though please be assured this is an ongoing priority for RPD and the City Council and we will continue to work on what is a very sensitive issue.