7 Aug 6th - Aug 12th, 2026 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | ‘With a Hammer’ Phoenix police spring sudden arrests on people in The Zone. BY CLARISSA SOSIN I t was just after 7 a.m. on July 30 when the Phoenix police officers rolled up to a curved stretch of road at the intersection of 11th Avenue and Jackson Street. Quickly the quiet stretch of street outside came to life. A man wearing green pants and no shirt who’d tucked himself in right up next to the wall of the Andre House of Hospitality, one of the homeless services providers, sleepily lifted his head to see what the commotion was. Immediately he stood and began to gather his stuff. The officers were conducting a sweep of “The Zone,” the notorious homeless encampment near downtown Phoenix. While it was disbanded in 2023, The Zone still exists in a smaller form, with fewer people and fewer tents. Its boundaries are Ninth Avenue to 15th Avenue between Jefferson and Jackson streets. Ask some, however, and it extends all the way from Washington Street to Grant Street. Sweeps happen regularly after a court ordered the area cleared in 2023. But the one on the morning of July 30 came without the usual warnings and with a far stronger police presence, two witnesses who filmed the sweep told Phoenix New Times. “When I looked to my right, I saw like a butt-ton of cop cars just ripping around the corner from where I was parked,” said Jessica Spencer, one of the witnesses. “It looks like they started arresting people, so I got out and I started recording.” Spencer and her partner, Sophia Elicia, are activists who provide aid to people sleeping on Phoenix’s streets. Elicia, who runs the Instagram account @unshel- teredphx, regularly films interactions between homeless people and police, including officers’ use of a “honeypot” to trap and trespass people in a city park. She asked to be identified by her first and middle names out of fear of retaliation. The two were out there that morning because Elicia had checked in on a friend the night before and heard through word of mouth that the police might be coming the next day. Phoenix heavily restricted camping in public places such as city side- walks, alleyways and roads, and areas within 500 feet of shelters, schools, parks and childcare centers. Elicia said that typically when sweeps happen, officers warn everyone and give them a chance to move their stuff to a temporary location. But this time they “swarmed in,” and with a lot of patrol cars at that. “They were clearly, you know, planning to come through with a hammer,” she said. Spokesperson for Phoenix’s Office of Homeless Solutions Kristin Couturier, who responded on behalf of the police A screenshot of footage filmed by unshelteredphx of Phoenix police arresting a man in The Zone, the homeless encampment near downtown Phoenix on July 30, 2026. (Unsheltered Phoenix) >> p 8 | NEWS | | NEWS |
