The policy shift means that no one can stay in the parks after they close each night.

  "Our intentions are to fully enforce the park rules," said Pete Witschen, an assistant city manager.

   With the center near capacity in recent weeks, Police Chief Michael Brasfield had told officers in a March 18 memo that curfews in city parks would be suspended any night the center stopped taking in homeless people.

   The policy angered many residents, who flooded City Hall with complaints.

    But just as many people called in to support allowing homeless people to sleep in parks, Mayor Jim Naugle said.

   "It's good that homeless people won't be able to sleep in parks," said Mark Ketcham, president of the Victoria Park Civic Association. "This should keep the parks safer and keep petty vandalism and crime down."

   Thursday's decision by the city followed a telephone conference between Witschen, Brasfield and City Attorney Dennis Lyles. After the conference, Witschen said the chief's memo was "based on some incomplete research and incomplete information."

    City Commissioner Carlton Moore agreed with the decision, saying that if taxpayers can't use the park, neither should homeless people who don't pay taxes. "When the park is closed, the park is closed," Moore said. "Nobody should be in it. I don't think that this is targeted at any particular population. It's enforcing the parks' rules."

   He said there are numerous facilities in the city for homeless people, including the Homeless Assistance Center, The Salvation Army and another homeless shelter on Northwest 19th Street.

   So far, there has been only one night since the Homeless Assistance Center opened Feb. 1 that it said it would not take any more people.

   Monday, the center will open 40 more beds to single men and women.
   Center officials have bought more beds, allowing them to use the center's full capacity of 200, said Ezra Krieg, spokesman for the center. The center now has more than 200 beds, but 40 of them are in the family unit, which has not opened, partly out of concern that single men will wander into the same area as children.

   The family unit will remain closed with the 40 beds in it until the center can improve security there, Krieg said.

   He said the controversy over homeless people in the parks had nothing to do with the center's decision to buy new beds. "We bought additional beds to allow us to get the center to be as flexible as possible," Krieg said, adding that center officials realized most of their clients were single men, not children. "We had already planned to do this."