Voice of OC opinion piece reports 30 unhoused deaths in September

Thirty people without a fixed residence died in Orange County in September, according to a community opinion piece by the Rev. Dennis Kriz published by Voice of OC. The piece lists deaths across 11 cities and calls for shelter backed by services.

Kriz places the deaths alongside a discussion of local homelessness enforcement, including a joint police sweep in Orange and Santa Ana that he reports led to 69 arrests. His argument centers on whether people facing enforcement have somewhere to stay and access to services.

The deaths listed in the Voice of OC piece occurred from Sept. 4 through Sept. 30. Kriz provides each person's name, date of death and city but does not state the individual causes of death.

The cities listed are Santa Ana, Anaheim, Placentia, Stanton, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Orange, Westminster, Huntington Beach, San Clemente and Brea.

Kriz reports that the joint Orange and Santa Ana police operation resulted in 53 arrests on misdemeanor charges and 16 on felony charges. The piece does not establish that the operation was connected to the listed deaths.

In discussing enforcement, Kriz contrasts the approach following the 2024 Grants Pass decision with the earlier Boise decision. He attributes more aggressive enforcement against unhoused people to Grants Pass.

Kriz supports encouraging people to accept available beds when legitimate services accompany them. He criticizes enforcement that leaves people without shelter and points to his own observations of treatment at medical respite centers as support for a service-based approach.

Voice of OC labels the piece community opinion and states that the views belong to the author. Its account of the deaths and arrests appears within Kriz's argument for changes in the response to homelessness.

Kriz's proposed response pairs available shelter with services rather than relying on enforcement that leaves people with nowhere to go. He argues that improving that response is necessary to reduce future deaths.