Atlanta restarts homeless encampment sweeps after pause caused by death

Among the recommendations city official Chatiqua Ellison outlined at City Hall last Tuesday are increased protections to avert a similar tragedy, including prominent signs to make known when clearings are happening, tent tagging and the use of thermal sensors to detect body heat inside tents.

Mayor Andre Dickens framed the encampment clearings as a public safety issue — not only to the people living in the camps but also to the public at large. He said the city has a “moral obligation” to deal with them.

His office said notices were posted at the camp April 23 and that support services include shelter referrals, transition to permanent and supportive housing, transportation and caseworker outreach.

“Following the newly created recommendations from our task force, and after weeks of outreach, our neighbors will be relocated to safe and secure housing that will put them on the road to self-sufficiency,” Dickens said in a statement.

Pryor Street was closed off Monday morning, and an Atlanta Police Department officer referred a reporter from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution to the department’s public affairs office, saying media was not permitted at the camp where crews were clearing the underpass.

According to homeless advocates, as many as 80 people were living at the encampment. Several unhoused men were sitting on the street Monday with their belongings, including suitcases, crates and bags. A vehicle with an articulating arm and claw was removing tents.

The Georgia Department of Public Works, Atlanta Police Department and Partners for HOME coordinated Monday’s sweep. Meanwhile, less than 2 miles away at the Old Wheat Street encampment, homeless advocates assailed the city and Partners for HOME for resuming cleanups before the task force’s work is complete.

Homeless advocate Nolan English, founder and executive director of Traveling Grace Ministries and a member of the Justice for Cornelius Taylor Coalition, addressed the mayor directly at a morning press conference.

“Does this look moral?” he said as he spoke to press in front of the encampment. “Your moral duty took place long before we started sending police and equipment down to places to remove the precious little that someone has.”

Tim Franzen, another member of the coalition, said some advocates were preparing to stay overnight because they heard the city was targeting Old Wheat Street for clearing the next day.

However, mayoral spokesman Michael Smith denied there are immediate plans to clear Old Wheat Street. He confirmed the city was following the new safety guidelines recommended by the task force after it presented its 45-day report.

Franzen criticized the city’s policies and procedures, echoing other advocates who argue the task force’s policies represent more of the same. He also said the city needs to provide more permanent housing to truly address homelessness, along with better wraparound services.

“What the city is doing now is just throwing money into a void, into a black hole, and that goes nowhere,” Franzen told the AJC. “These people have all of their property crushed. They’re put into these shelters that feel more like jails (and) are kicked out at 7 in the morning the next day.”

Dickens, a progressive Democrat, says he supports a humanitarian approach to homelessness and policies that get people into shelter and homes. His administration opened The Melody, a community of repurposed shipping containers with 40 micro-units in 2024, and said the city would commit more than $60 million to tackle homelessness.

As the nation’s homeless population has grown amid a housing affordability crisis, Atlanta is among several cities across the U.S. that have cracked down on camps.

Even when a sweep is not deadly, it has serious impacts on people living at camps, including displacement, loss of medication and the destruction of their belongings, advocates say.

Gus Hendricks, who lives at the Old Wheat Street camp, suggested the city is not doing enough to find people permanent housing.

“Down the tents. Let’s talk about some rooms. Let’s talk about some living rooms. Let’s talk about cooking. Let’s talk about Mom coming to my house,” Hendricks said.

Taylor’s cousin, Derek Chaney, was also at the camp Monday. He described the months since he lost Taylor — who he grew up with and regarded as a brother — as “hell.” He urged the city to come up with more effective long-term solutions than encampment clearings.

“I can’t get my brother back,” he said.

Already shaken by Taylor’s death, the camp and its community were again in the spotlight in March when Daniel Barnett was arrested and charged for allegedly slashing several tents at the encampment with a box cutter. The location of the camp on a public street has also elicited complaints from local residents and stakeholders.

The city said Monday’s sweep on Pryor Street fell under Georgia law banning urban camping and that it was committed to closing camps “humanely, safely and transparently, in full consideration of the rights and needs of the unhoused community.”

Ellison, who is director of special projects for housing in the mayor’s office, presented the 45-day report to city council members on April 29 during a Community Development/Human Services Committee meeting. The task force is expected to issue a final report later this year.

According to Ellison, the city would include several more steps — including visual confirmation by city officials — to verify no one is inside an encampment tent before heavy machinery is used.

She said caseworkers would be accompanied by a police officer to tag tents and Atlanta Fire Department recruits would come in with thermal sensors to confirm tents are empty.

Another step in the process would include dismantling and moving tents to another location before heavy machinery picks them up and disposes of them.

This story was updated to clarify the day Derek Chaney visited the encampment.