I strongly oppose this ordinance. The way it is written is vague and cruel, opening up community members to punishment for helping each other. If I am injured or experience a medical event in a park, I want anyone to be able to help me without fear of fines or arrest! This ordinance will cause unnecessary suffering and death, erode community ties, and stretch our emergency service members thinner than they already are. This is illogical and inhumane. Build community, don’t punish it!
I oppose this ban on medical care in parks as it lacks any type of fore thought or empathy. Some of the most vulnerable people in our community will be harmed by this knee-jerk reaction . The people best serving this community in need weren't consulted prior to making this decision and penalizing them is of no benefit to society.
I strongly oppose this proposed ordinance. The practice of punishing community aid is abhorrent. I fail to see any benefit from this proposition. The language alone is horrific. Please do not punish Phoenicians for trying to help their own city.
As written, there is ambiguity if this applies to people providing medical care to recreational athletes participating at the city's sports complexes. I have worked several events at city-owned parks, providing medical care to recreational athletes who sustained injuries that ranged from an ice bag to wound care to an emergent response from Phoenix Fire and Medical Services. I believe that the council should work to reword the ordinance so recreational athletes can have medical care provided.
I strongly oppose this ordinance. It targets our most vulnerable community members and ignores overwhelming evidence that harm reduction saves lives and reduces strain on public systems. Criminalizing care and survival-based support does not improve safety. It increases harm, pushes people further from help, and makes recovery harder for individuals and communities alike.
Even with the 12/16 revision, this ordinance hinders activities that otherwise lessen the burden on our ER system. As a mother to a young child who has come across needles at playgrounds AND as a medical student who has participated in Street Medicine activities, I can personally attest that medical professionals are not leaving needles behind - medical professionals are professionals for a reason, everything they bring in they take out, safely. This ordinance hurts public health and safety.
"We want sick and homeless people to die" should be Phoenix city's new slogan with this amendment. You don't want people to get the care they deserve that you already deprive them of that our tax dollars should be for, instead of the $1 billion (+$40 million) free cash that Phoenix loves to hand out to their police to beat up and harass the people they're supposed to serve. Our community tries to fills the gaps where you've failed your people, and you want to criminalize the helpers? No. OPPOSE.
Criminalizing harm reduction and medical services for unhoused individuals in Phoenix city parks does nothing to help any individual, it only pushes people further from safety, healthcare, and connection. These services save lives by preventing overdoses, treating wounds and infections early, and linking people to housing and support. Turning them into crimes wastes taxpayer resources, strains emergency services, and punishes humanitarian efforts instead of addressing root causes.
I strongly oppose this ordinance. To place an extra burden on those who provide potentially life saving information is not only cruel, but a potential violation of our first amendment rights. We should NOT be penalizing Phoenix residents for being able to reach out to the most vulnerable areas, for free, when the City has either been unable or unwilling to. It would not only be a moral failure if this ordinance were passed, but a leadership and government failure as well.
I strongly oppose this ordnance. It would prevent harm reduction organizations from providing needed care to people. And that would have a knock on effect of putting more strain on other medical services that are already struggling to keep up. This doesn’t solve the problem. It sweeps it under the rug and puts people’s lives at risk just to create an illusion of safety. Remember, all of us are just a couple bad months away from being in a situation where we’d need that help. Have some compassion
I strongly oppose the proposed ordinance to ban medical care in public. I am a trained HIV and hepatitis c tester, and I use my time, knowledge, and resources to test people for free. If you ban medical care in public, anyone without the time or money to go to a doctor’s office will be left without this resource. People who use this care, don’t have access to private medical care, whether it’s insurance, money, transportation, hours of operation, etc. I plead and urge you to oppose this.
This ordinance will severely hinder current harm reduction efforts that save lives. People who are opposed to these efforts taking place in parks need to understand that these are the only safe places to deliver these services to unhoused people in our current society. We should not be making life saving efforts more difficult with ordinances like this.
This ordinance would only make the important work of harm reduction advocates that much harder. With the state of the world and how many people we have currently in need of this service, this could cost us live of our neighbors. Our parks should be a place of community coming together to help each other, not needless ordinances putting red tape in the way of supporting our struggling neighbors.
Saving lives of vulnerable at-risk populations should be the priority here. Distribution of supplies to keep people safe from illness or death does not harm the community. Banning such actions endangers the community.
As a licensed and practicing medical professional, I can attest that medical care should not be criminalized, especially in a public place. The individuals treated aren’t loitering, trespassing, or there to commit crimes to other people. This ordinance is simply aimed to remove these “unsightly” individuals from the public’s view and fails to address root causes or offer meaningful solutions, especially based on data.
I am submitting this comment to make it clear how strongly opposed to this ordinance I am as a resident of the valley. Harm reduction only serves to protect and provide care for our community members. I have volunteered with harm reduction organizations and have first hand seen the benefits. This ordinance will only lead to more harm, more danger, and put more folks at risk. I plead with the city council to reject this ordinance and focus on coming up with solutions to increase care, not harm.
This ordinance is not rooted in compassion or evidenced-based. Data shows that the type of support this ordinance is against actually saves lives. Despite the data, these are human lives at stake here. This ordinance will cause major harm to our communities.
Do not go with this vile act that will put neighbors against each other. This will only lead to more deaths and grow a bigger divide into each other. We need to show empathy and compassion to one another because anyone could be effected by this. Brothers, sons, sisters, daughters, fathers and mothers. Seeing the death toll go up by lack of care is disgusting and isn't what Phoenix should represent.
I strongly oppose this ordinance. The way it is written is vague and cruel, opening up community members to punishment for helping each other. If I am injured or experience a medical event in a park, I want anyone to be able to help me without fear of fines or arrest! This ordinance will cause unnecessary suffering and death, erode community ties, and stretch our emergency service members thinner than they already are. This is illogical and inhumane. Build community, don’t punish it!
I oppose this ban on medical care in parks as it lacks any type of fore thought or empathy. Some of the most vulnerable people in our community will be harmed by this knee-jerk reaction . The people best serving this community in need weren't consulted prior to making this decision and penalizing them is of no benefit to society.
I strongly oppose this proposed ordinance. The practice of punishing community aid is abhorrent. I fail to see any benefit from this proposition. The language alone is horrific. Please do not punish Phoenicians for trying to help their own city.
As written, there is ambiguity if this applies to people providing medical care to recreational athletes participating at the city's sports complexes. I have worked several events at city-owned parks, providing medical care to recreational athletes who sustained injuries that ranged from an ice bag to wound care to an emergent response from Phoenix Fire and Medical Services. I believe that the council should work to reword the ordinance so recreational athletes can have medical care provided.
This ordinance is backwards looking and will only worsen outcomes for vulnerable populations. Please do not enact this.
I strongly oppose this ordinance. It targets our most vulnerable community members and ignores overwhelming evidence that harm reduction saves lives and reduces strain on public systems. Criminalizing care and survival-based support does not improve safety. It increases harm, pushes people further from help, and makes recovery harder for individuals and communities alike.
Even with the 12/16 revision, this ordinance hinders activities that otherwise lessen the burden on our ER system. As a mother to a young child who has come across needles at playgrounds AND as a medical student who has participated in Street Medicine activities, I can personally attest that medical professionals are not leaving needles behind - medical professionals are professionals for a reason, everything they bring in they take out, safely. This ordinance hurts public health and safety.
"We want sick and homeless people to die" should be Phoenix city's new slogan with this amendment. You don't want people to get the care they deserve that you already deprive them of that our tax dollars should be for, instead of the $1 billion (+$40 million) free cash that Phoenix loves to hand out to their police to beat up and harass the people they're supposed to serve. Our community tries to fills the gaps where you've failed your people, and you want to criminalize the helpers? No. OPPOSE.
Criminalizing harm reduction and medical services for unhoused individuals in Phoenix city parks does nothing to help any individual, it only pushes people further from safety, healthcare, and connection. These services save lives by preventing overdoses, treating wounds and infections early, and linking people to housing and support. Turning them into crimes wastes taxpayer resources, strains emergency services, and punishes humanitarian efforts instead of addressing root causes.
I strongly oppose this ordinance. To place an extra burden on those who provide potentially life saving information is not only cruel, but a potential violation of our first amendment rights. We should NOT be penalizing Phoenix residents for being able to reach out to the most vulnerable areas, for free, when the City has either been unable or unwilling to. It would not only be a moral failure if this ordinance were passed, but a leadership and government failure as well.
I strongly oppose this ordnance. It would prevent harm reduction organizations from providing needed care to people. And that would have a knock on effect of putting more strain on other medical services that are already struggling to keep up. This doesn’t solve the problem. It sweeps it under the rug and puts people’s lives at risk just to create an illusion of safety. Remember, all of us are just a couple bad months away from being in a situation where we’d need that help. Have some compassion
I strongly oppose the proposed ordinance to ban medical care in public. I am a trained HIV and hepatitis c tester, and I use my time, knowledge, and resources to test people for free. If you ban medical care in public, anyone without the time or money to go to a doctor’s office will be left without this resource. People who use this care, don’t have access to private medical care, whether it’s insurance, money, transportation, hours of operation, etc. I plead and urge you to oppose this.
This ordinance will severely hinder current harm reduction efforts that save lives. People who are opposed to these efforts taking place in parks need to understand that these are the only safe places to deliver these services to unhoused people in our current society. We should not be making life saving efforts more difficult with ordinances like this.
This ordinance would only make the important work of harm reduction advocates that much harder. With the state of the world and how many people we have currently in need of this service, this could cost us live of our neighbors. Our parks should be a place of community coming together to help each other, not needless ordinances putting red tape in the way of supporting our struggling neighbors.
Saving lives of vulnerable at-risk populations should be the priority here. Distribution of supplies to keep people safe from illness or death does not harm the community. Banning such actions endangers the community.
As a licensed and practicing medical professional, I can attest that medical care should not be criminalized, especially in a public place. The individuals treated aren’t loitering, trespassing, or there to commit crimes to other people. This ordinance is simply aimed to remove these “unsightly” individuals from the public’s view and fails to address root causes or offer meaningful solutions, especially based on data.
While I fully support efforts to assist and care for those in need, I do not believe a playground for children is the right location.
I am submitting this comment to make it clear how strongly opposed to this ordinance I am as a resident of the valley. Harm reduction only serves to protect and provide care for our community members. I have volunteered with harm reduction organizations and have first hand seen the benefits. This ordinance will only lead to more harm, more danger, and put more folks at risk. I plead with the city council to reject this ordinance and focus on coming up with solutions to increase care, not harm.
This ordinance is not rooted in compassion or evidenced-based. Data shows that the type of support this ordinance is against actually saves lives. Despite the data, these are human lives at stake here. This ordinance will cause major harm to our communities.
Do not go with this vile act that will put neighbors against each other. This will only lead to more deaths and grow a bigger divide into each other. We need to show empathy and compassion to one another because anyone could be effected by this. Brothers, sons, sisters, daughters, fathers and mothers. Seeing the death toll go up by lack of care is disgusting and isn't what Phoenix should represent.