The San Jose City Council added two hours to an existing ban on people sleeping or sitting on sidewalks.
By unanimous vote, the council made it illegal to sleep or sit on city sidewalks from eight o’clock in the morning to midnight.
People without homes in San Jose are at risk of being cited or arrested, if they're caught sleeping or sitting on the sidewalk by early morning.
San Jose Spotlight reports police can arrest or issue criminal citations to people violating the updated policy.
San Jose Police Chief Paul Joseph proposed the update to the policy. Originally passed in 1996, it was meant to improve foot traffic on the sidewalk for people walking through downtown on the way to work.
Homeless residents won't be arrested or cited unless they are found in violation more than once in a 30-day period. The policy doesn't apply to permitted vendors, sidewalk cafes, people experiencing medical emergencies, or people using wheelchairs, walkers or similar devices.
But some local homeless advocates said they were skeptical about the increased enforcement hours. They argue that removing unhoused persons from the sidewalk will just move the problem elsewhere.
The law immediately went into effect.
