What you should come away with:
being able to state what you may and may not lawfully do when you are expected to make someone leave.
This section protects everyone in the transaction. Almost all of the escalation, injury and
liability in these encounters comes from a private person acting on authority they do not
have. Knowing where your authority ends is not a limitation on your job — on the days
this comes up, it is your job.
Security guards operate under an additional set of statutes and duties that do not apply
to other employees. Those are under For Security Guards, not here.
2.3 Asking someone to leave
Covers: what a lawful request sounds like, what notice means, and what your
options actually are when the answer is no — a shorter list than most people assume.
Calling the police is on the list. Making someone leave yourself is not.
Not written yet.
2.4 Belongings are property
Covers: a cart, a tent, bedding and bags belong to the person, not to the
sidewalk. Moving, discarding or “cleaning up” someone's possessions is one of the
fastest routes to both a violent encounter and a lawsuit — including the loss of
identification, medication and documents the person cannot replace.
Not written yet.
2.5 Disability and discrimination
Covers: how disability, service animals and medical equipment change what a
lawful request looks like; the Americans with Disabilities Act and California
anti-discrimination law as they reach private businesses; and treating housing status itself
as grounds for exclusion.
Not written yet.
2.6 After Grants Pass — and what it did not change
Covers: City of Grants Pass v. Johnson (June 2024) held that unhoused
persons are not exempt from local no-public-camping laws. The limiting point matters more
here than the holding: it governs municipal enforcement on public land, and
it does not give a private business or its staff any authority they did not
already have. Expect people to have heard the opposite.
Not written yet.
2.7 Helping is not a crime
Covers: California legislation protecting people who provide aid to unhoused
people. A bill number is required before this goes on the page — the
source material describes it only loosely.
Not written yet.
