Donnie Tatour doesn’t say exactly where he sleeps at night, but it’s in the “right place.”
You can acknowledge where he places his head as someone who is considered unsheltered, especially now that he has been outlawed by the state to sleep overnight.
Since HB 1365 was implemented on January 1, when city officials have slept overnight in public places such as beaches, bus stops, sidewalks and parks, and when rules are not enforced by public local governments, city officials have been seeking solutions. And supporters argue that being homeless will be more difficult given the growing prospects for state penalties. With the Pressure Mount, Palm Beach County park rangers are doing what they can to help.
South Florida’s Sun Sentinel recently accompanied Mahbub Morshed, the county park supervisor.
Morshed, who has worked as a ranger for over a decade, said his work hasn’t changed much since the implementation of HB 1365. In particular, the county has already made its enforcement “more official” because there were ordinances that prohibit sleeping in public places.
“We can now force it even more,” he said.
With around 90 parks in the county closed at sunset, rangers such as Morshed have long been tasked with ensuring that people, homeless or not, leave the park after dark.
First Destination: John Prince Memorial Park
Morshed will begin his work day at the Ranger office at John Prince Memorial Park in Lakeworth Beach, along with other rangers who work on the midnight shift from 4pm.
The development, when the Rangers report to their respective parks, will be when Rangers visit the parks 6-7 per night at 5pm. As a supervisor, Morshed cannot afford the luxury of filling long car rides with music and podcasts. Instead, he monitors the radio and the ranger communicates status updates or requests for help.
On a recent Monday night shift, Molshd began his workday at Ranger Station in John Prince Park, as usual. With over 700 acres of trails, campsites, lakes, playgrounds and pavilions in the park, Morshed spends his time researching before his next stop. The darkness won’t fall for several more hours, so Morshud should ensure that everyone in the park is in peace.
Just after 5pm, Morshud recognizes the man sitting on the bench under the pavilion. Marcus McCoy estimates he was homeless between seven and eight years, and has spent much of his time at John Prince Park recently. On this day, he covers the adult coloring book and fills the outline with colored pencils.
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Like Donnie Tatour, McCoy is not specific about where he sleeps, but he said he’s unlikely to get in the way if he maintains an area that’s as clean as he found them.
“If it’s not clean (people), they go to the Park Rangers and say, ‘Hey, people are sleeping here, and they’re leaving behind the trash,'” McCoy said. “The (Rangers) are keeping an eye on the area right now. … It’s a beautiful park and I don’t blame anyone doing what they’re doing. If they put you to sleep, they’ll put you to sleep.
Still, McCoy said it’s difficult to find a place, either public or personal, that is safe and that it’s difficult to find a place that doesn’t appeal to law enforcement or other officials to complain.
“Sometimes people just need something to lie down,” he said.
McCoy said he had recently lived in the shelter until he reached the maximum time he could stay. He had previously stayed at other shelters.
“When you try to get yourself right and get your life back on track, they don’t really give it, regardless of time, condition, or anything, especially if you’re working and working,” he said. “It doesn’t seem like you’re here or you’re coming here… They’re going to tell you to pack your bags tomorrow. They really don’t have the generosity.”
McCoy said he is currently looking for a job. The pursuit he said recently became more difficult when his electric bike was stolen while he was asleep. He doesn’t seem to have many belongings – next to a thick box of colored pencils, coloring books and pencil sharpeners, a backpack and drawstring bag with the faded Miami Heat logo.
In the case of McCoy, who stayed in the Downtown West Palm Beach area along Clematis Street and saw the ongoing construction of a million-dollar skyscraper, he is confident in the source of motivation for HB 1365.
“It’s just about money, if they feel that’s how they get rid of the homelessness,” he said. “It’s not really removed, it pushes them away and pushes them this way or far north, but they don’t want you to be a place where you don’t have any money anywhere.”
When signing the bill last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a statement: “Florida will not allow homeless camps to infiltrate citizens or undermine the quality of life as we saw in states like New York or California.”
Rather, the law “ensures that homeless individuals have the resources they need to recover while supporting our commitment to law and order,” DeSantis said.
Before leaving, Morshed provided McCoy with a pamphlet with contact information for county resources, including health, hygiene, food, clothing, shelter, relocation, domestic abuse, and legal assistance. McCoy has a call, but not everyone who is not sheltered, Morshud said. In such cases, Morshed may call the person.
“In most cases, they don’t have a cell phone or their cell phones have no charge,” Morshud said.
Second and third stops: Riviera Beach Park
After his interaction with McCoy, Morshed will need to check out two parks at Riviera Beach. By the time he arrives at Jim Barry Wright Harbor Park, the sky is still clung to the sunlight, so Morshud doesn’t have to ask anyone to leave yet.
It is located in Light Harbor Park where Donnie Tatour and several others stroll around. Before driving to the park to greet Tatour and his group, Morshud finds a woman he recognizes and rolls the car window to talk to her.
“Where is your son?” he asks her and they begin a friendly exchange.
A woman who agrees to share only her name, Jenny, says she lives on a boat with her son. She says she had prepared canoes to go to her and her son’s boat before the day was too dark.
Although she and her son have a rather stable place to sleep at night, Jenny says they are interacting with many people who are not working with the church group to bring together more resources for the homeless population of Riviera Beach.
“These people are at survival levels,” Jenny said. “They’ve been sleep deprived since the first night they’re on the street. It’s not addressed. They’re worried about every sound, every smell, every flash of light right away. This isn’t where they need it.
After making the rest of the park look relatively peaceful, Moshed Drive is just minutes from Light Harbor to Philfoster Memorial Park, the third stop in the evening. By then, it was 7:30pm, with pink and orange sunsets spreading across the skyline.
Located in the intracoastal waterway, Phil Foster, Morshud notices a man sleeping in a series of water fountains.
Morshed reassures him that he has a little more time before the park closes, but the man leaves soon and tows behind him on his bike.
After a few more minutes of adjustments to the scene, Molshed decided it was time to return to John Prince Memorial Park.
4th stop: Return to John Prince Park
On the drive back to John Prince Park, Molshd is handed over twice on Osborne Lake Drive, just next to the main park trail, notifying park fans (someone who is fishing and another group on the bench). It’s now past 8pm and there’s no doubt about the existence of dusk and the park’s closure.
The Rangers are trying to prevent people from using the park as a place to sleep once it closes, but that’s just one of their goals.
“If I just educate everyone and educate them that they are not sheltered, that’s a double standard. We don’t want to do that. Ordinances are for everyone,” Mosched said.
Fifth Stop: Buttonwood Park
After driving around John Prince Park, Molcead makes an effort to Buttonwood Park, the fifth stop of the night. He notices the man under the pavilion and asks him to leave – but instead of responding, the man begins to leave.
In these situations, Morshed said he normally waits before asking the same person to leave again. Ultimately, if they do not follow, Molshd or other rangers will need to involve the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
Morshud said he must call the sheriff’s office two or four times a month. However, he estimates that he made up 10 calls a month before HB 1365 passed. Morshed believes this is because people experiencing homelessness know about the law and therefore have no chance of retreating anymore.
In Buttonwood, Morshed walks to the dark corner of the park and finds a sleeping man. Morshed tells the man that the park is closed and asks if he wants assistance, but he says he is already on the shelter waiting list and then leaves the park.
Morshed is not naive. He knows that after the Rangers punch out at night, many people will return to the park for a place to sleep.
The county is currently working to close the gap, hiring new rangers to work on a cemetery shift from 11pm to 7am.
His final stop of the night is where he finishes all of his shifts.
He plans to write a report for the night before he gets home for the last hour of his shift, and do the same thing the next day.
Regardless of what state officials are doing, Molshud and other county rangers are dedicated to keeping the park safe and helping people who are not sheltered.
“We want to leave a positive note to all our patrons,” he said.
