Manteca Police have turned up the pressure on illegal homeless encampments in the past week.

The homeless are being told to either take advantage of available beds at the emergency homeless shelter at 555 Industrial Park Drive or move on.

And those not complying are being cited.

The city’s new stance was made possible by the last month’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed cities to enforce bans on people sleeping in public places.

That said, it also encompasses what Manteca agreed to in the 2015 settlement of a class action suit brought against the city by homeless individuals. The settlement avoided Manteca incurring millions of dollars in litigation and payouts that several other cities had been forced to accept when they lost similar class action lawsuits.

There have been three night-time enforcement actions in the past week or so, including one where Mayor Gary Singh and Councilman Mike Morowit accompanied officers.

Singh noted officers are now able to pressure the homeless to take advantage of shelter beds or move on.

And because they don’t have to post illegal encampments and wait a set number of days, they can return the next night or so and continue to pressure the homeless to move on.

Singh said that is exactly what is happening.

“The homeless will get the message,” he said.

To be clear, Singh noted the city is offering the homeless an alternative — the emergency shelter.

Manteca has committed more than $1.1 million a year to provide resources and shelter to assist the homeless.

They are also working on a $15 million homeless navigation center to step up efforts of the past six years the city has undertaken working with community groups and other agencies to help the homeless get off the street and — in some cases — be able to provide shelter once again for themselves.

Singh noted if the 50 beds of the emergency shelter fill up, the homeless will be able to “camp” on the secured grounds at 555 Industrial Park Drive where the shelter is located.

Not only does the city have 24/7 security at the site, but the homeless can access everything from meals, showers, bathrooms, clothing, and address hygiene needs to get help getting off the streets.

The shelter allows the homeless to bring their pets that are also fed.

The mayor said the city is also working with Caltrans and the CHP.

Singh said the CHP is being allowed to direct homeless along the 120 Bypass and Highway 99 — two areas that are not in the city’s jurisdiction — to the Manteca shelter.

Thanks to Gov. Newsom’s executive order on Thursday, Singh said the city is working to come up with a system in partnership with Caltrans where the homeless can be cited or told to move on and for illegal encampments to be cleared at the same time.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com