Several occupants agree to assistance through non profit Jake’s Journey Home following eviction from site
The Folsom Police Department and its regional partners have completed what officials say was the largest homeless encampment cleanup operation in the city’s history, bringing to a close nearly two years of planning, outreach and coordination aimed at addressing a long-standing encampment on state-owned property near the 1100 block of Sibley Street.
The cleanup took place June 25 through a partnership between the Folsom Police Department, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office Air Operations Unit.
According to Lt. Lou Wright of the Folsom Police Department, the effort began nearly two years ago after the city received hundreds of complaints about the encampment.
“In July of 2024 we started visiting this area after receiving hundreds of complaints,” Wright said.
The operation represented the culmination of nearly two years of work by the department’s Homeless Outreach and Problem-Oriented Policing Team, which began engaging with occupants of the encampment in July 2024. Police estimated that as many as 15 unhoused individuals lived at the site over the past two years.
During that time, officers made more than 30 contacts with individuals living at the encampment, repeatedly offering assistance and connecting them with Jake’s Journey Home, a local community partner providing housing resources, mental health and substance abuse services, veterans’ assistance, legal support and other resources.
“Beginning in July 2024, the Homeless Outreach and Problem-Oriented Policing Team contacted occupants of this encampment more than 30 times, offering housing resources, mental health and substance abuse services, veterans’ assistance, legal support, and other services through our community partner, Jake’s Journey Home,” the department stated following the operation. “Despite these repeated efforts, no occupants chose to accept assistance.”
Before the cleanup could proceed, the department worked with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to secure authorization for the removal effort. Formal trespass and abatement notices were posted in May 2026, providing advance notice that the encampment would be cleared. Wright said members of the Homeless Outreach Team also returned to the site during the week before the cleanup to provide another verbal notification that the operation would move forward.
Police said the encampment had generated hundreds of complaints from residents while also creating substantial impacts to a sensitive natural habitat.
“Throughout this process, our priority remained balancing compassion for those experiencing homelessness with our responsibility to protect public safety and preserve the environment,” the department stated.
The cleanup itself involved weeks of preparation before the helicopter ever arrived. Wright said crews spent several weeks collecting and bagging debris so it could be safely removed from the rugged site.
“We have now spent several weeks cleaning up, bagging up rubbish, trash, human feces, and preparing it for extrication today,” Wright said.
Because of the steep terrain surrounding the encampment, traditional heavy equipment could not safely access the site. Instead, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office Air Operations Unit used one of its helicopters to remove debris, completing 15 cargo-net lifts during the operation.
The helicopter transported debris from the encampment to a designated landing zone where it was removed for disposal. By the time the cleanup operation began, no individuals remained at the encampment. Police said anyone who returns to occupy the state-owned property could be subject to trespassing enforcement.
The Folsom Police Department concluded the operation by thanking its officers, city departments and regional partners whose cooperation made the historic cleanup possible.
“This milestone was the result of nearly two years of planning, outreach, and collaboration,” the department stated. “Thank you to our officers, city departments, and regional partners whose teamwork made this operation possible.”
Some now accepting resources as of Friday
By Friday afternoon, Jeanne Shuman of Jake’s Journey home provided an update that at least six individuals that were living at the cleaned out encampment had been in follow up discussions with the local non profit regarding assistance, such as job placement and housing options.
“Jake’s Journey Home met with 10 of the people in that encampment. One is living in an SLE (sober living environment) program and has a job. One is in an SLE and looking for employment. One is moving for a job, two are in residential and two are on the residential list and one is on the mental health support list, “Shuman shared. “I’ll just say that there are people that do want help and they get into a cycle of isolation. Mental health and addiction are certainly the symptom of trauma.
Shuman went on to thank the Folsom Police Department for working to provide resources for those that were being removers and shed light on how many get into this position.
“ When you feel you don’t belong and the basic things in life become an unobtainable dream, you hide, “ she added. “Given time, most people want to live a normal life and sometimes they need to have care shown to build the trust,”
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