The City of Escalon has released body cam footage to prove their police officers were not simply dumping off homeless people last month in Modesto. But the controversy is still alive between the two cities.
"Oh, you want to go to Modesto?" asked an Escalon Police officer.
In a mostly blurred 30-minute video released by the City of Escalon, an Escalon Police officer asks two homeless people where they would like to go. It was August 15.
Police Officer: "OK. We'll take you to Modesto. Yeah. That's the Comfort Inn or whatever you want to call it. The Budget."
Homeless Person: "Yeah. The Budget. What nice men. Thank you so much."
Police Officer: "We'll take you to Modesto."
However, a hotel is not where the man and woman ended-up. The homeless pair was dropped at a Modesto McHenry Avenue Rite Aid Store. The City of Modesto said there were complaints the next day of the two loitering and littering on the store lawn.
In a letter to the City of Escalon, Modesto said the pair had "long histories of criminal activity" including in the Bay Area, San Joaquin County and Escalon.
"We don't need other neighboring jurisdictions compounding the problem that we already have in Modesto with bringing homeless people outside into the city," said City of Modesto spokesman Thomas Reeves.
So how did the pair end up at Rite Aid? The City of Escalon says the pair changed their minds during the ride and asked to be dropped at the store.
Furthermore, in a letter to the City of Modesto, the Escalon City Manager says, in part, "It is not our policy to transport individuals out of our town. Our officers were trying to do a good deed in assisting individuals to getting to a location where they could obtain services."
For now, both cities are still talking to assure that another controversy such as this one doesn't happen again.
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