Homeless encampment continues to worry nearby Baton Rouge homeowners

BATON ROUGE – Homeowners in the Jefferson Terrace area say unwelcome neighbors are still causing concern after they set up camp in their neighborhood.

Matt Thomas works with ‘Keep Tiger Town Beautiful.’ It’s an organization that helps clean up homeless encampments. 

“We’ve cleaned about 15 out… We usually find many, many needles,” says Thomas.

It can be a very dangerous job. That’s why they only clean up once the people have been forced out by law enforcement.

“We don’t want a confrontation… We have been threatened with a gun on one occasion. We’ve also found an automatic pistol with an extended clip on the side of the interstate when we’re cleaning up,” Thomas said.

As for the concerned homeowners, Thomas has advice that might be able to help them.

“Step one, find out who the owner of the property is. Step two, put pressure on them to have the sheriff’s department remove them,” Thomas said.

Until that happens, there is a helpful resource residents can use to report the issue. 

“Red Stick 311 is an app that you can go to. It’s a city app, and it’s basically for violations for codes and blight and those kinds of things. It’s a little complicated to go through, but you can get through it and report specifically these problems,” Thomas said.