San Francisco Public Press

Everything Is Gone, and You Become More Lost’: 12 Hours of Chaos as Berkeley Clears Encampment

Yesica Prado

The photo essay and accompanying story took readers inside the reality of unhoused residents caught up in a crackdown by Berkeley police and officials, who tossed personal belongings into dumpsters and hauled away cars where people were sleeping. It showed the harrowing experience of people having their lives turned upside down by municipal power. After publication of the essay, Berkeley officials began auditing policies for responding to homelessness and overhauling procedures for engaging with people living in vehicles and encampments.