Palm Springs PD goes underneath a bridge that is a frequent hot spot for homeless people

A Palm Springs Police Officer takes his team under a bridge on Dinah Shore, where homeless people have set up shop. People were living underneath the bridge and even inside the bridge.

Their findings during an Operation Relentless Sun sweep were surprising. Some individuals had beds, microwaves, running electricity, and even a shower set up.

Operation Relentless Sun is to continue to do enforcement sweeps in the hot spot areas, to hold those accountable, who are refusing to obey the laws, and also to deter them from committing crimes, says the Palm Springs Police Department.

"if they don't see us, they think that we kind of ignored this area and gone somewhere else," says Officer Jorge Diaz. "So it's every day, we have to come out here and do checks to ensure no one's actually living here and not accumulating large amounts of trash."

There is so much trash accumulating near, and underneath the bridge, Diaz says the Streets Department cleans up once every three weeks.

O.R.S. began in Febraury of 2023. This is what Officer Diaz had to say about its success.

"It's been very effective," says Diaz. "So me and my team, we pretty much work Operation Relentless Sun every single day. And for our team, we've sent about 15 plus people to get them reunited with their families. So if they're from out of state, they tell us, hey, you know, I'm from Alabama, I hitchhiked out here, I'm stuck out here, I'm trying to go back home, we kind of have to verify on the other end to make sure they are from the area that they're saying that they have family or someone willing to take them in. So if that's the case, we'll give them a one way bus ticket and bus them back home. Same thing; we work with all our resources, all our shelters, and we try to get them housed. So so far, we've housed about a dozen or so."

Look at the Dinah Shore Bridge as people build homes underneath and even inside the bridge.