This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org/journalism_fund.
The area surrounding Cacique Street on Santa Barbara’s Eastside has emerged as a hotspot for homeless-related calls for service, with residents and employees saying they have witnessed an uptick in open drug use and trading, physical fights, and dangerous mental-health episodes in the area in recent months.
A snapshot of data from the Santa Barbara Police Department (SBPD) shows that homeless-related calls for service to the 800 block of Cacique Street between January and August have increased by 14 percent from 2023 to 2024. These calls generally deal with “nuisance-related crimes and drug issues in the area,” said Sergeant Bryan Kerr, a spokesperson with the SBPD.
Based on the ongoing community concern and uptick in calls for service, “the police department recently went to seven-day-a-week coverage for our Community Action Team, and they have been more proactive in this area,” said Sergeant Ethan Ragsdale with the SBPD. The Community Action Team patrols problem areas of the city via bicycle, and the officers are specifically tasked with handling “on-views,” or crimes they witness while patrolling.
More police coverage on the 800 block of Cacique has meant more on-views. While police intervened on 45 homeless-related on-views between January and August in 2023, they were much busier this year, with 96 crimes handled by officers between the same months of 2024.
Describing the street as “a negative reflection on businesses” and “not clean or safe,” residents and employees — who wish to remain anonymous — have started to point the finger at the lack of security around the People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) shelter, which is located at 816 Cacique Street.
“We understand their main concerns because they’re the same concerns we have,” acknowledged Jonathan Castillo, PATH’s chief regional officer.
Castillo explained that PATH has looked into hiring security companies to patrol the block around the shelter per nearby residents’ requests. However, security guards are not legally allowed to “patrol” publicly owned land like sidewalks and streets, he said. “Security companies also can’t enforce anything. They can ask people to move along, but if they say no, they have the same resources as any other civilian.”
The magic, yet unanswered, question was emphasized in Castillo’s remarks — “Where else do we tell them to go?”
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