LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Each number in the county's census represents a person, and together, a community dealing with a difficult and complex problem.
The impact of homelessness goes beyond the unhoused population, creating health and safety concerns in valley neighborhoods.
The biggest frustration for East Las Vegas resident Mike Burke? "It's the outage!" he said, referring to non-functioning streetlights. "We have older people who try to walk at night and it's too dark! And there's too many vagrants who live in the tunnel system."
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Neighbors in the Paradise area of East Las Vegas believe the problems of homelessness and copper wire theft from streetlights go hand in hand.
But that's just one issue they say comes with the unhoused population who seek shelter in the nearby Flamingo wash.
"We've been reporting those encampments repeatedly," said homeowner Annoula Wylderich. "The county comes in, they clean up, a few days later these people are back right where they were, leaving behind their drug paraphernalia, human waste, trash, and my understanding is that some of those folks are the ones that are stealing the wires."
A frustrating and pervasive crime we've reported on many times.
"The streets are dark," Burke said. "They've been fixed before but then the wire is taken out again. There's a lot of vagrants at work in this neighborhood, that sleep in this neighborhood."
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The neighborhood is in Clark County Commission Chairman Tick Segerblom's district, where he says streetlights and homelessness are the two biggest issues.
On Tuesday, Segerblom reposted a complaint from a constituent on X where the resident asked, "Why are homeless packing in the East (Flamingo) library? Witnesses said they won’t go back for classes there."
Libraries are often used by homeless people to escape the summer heat and use public computers.
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Segerblom says it's more complicated to address than residents might think.
"I'm sure they're frustrated," said Segerblom. "I'm frustrated!"
13 Investigates discovered bent and broken steel fencing where someone has created an access point to the Flamingo wash, which Segerblom says is a constant concern and drain on taxpayer-funded resources.
"In the wash particularly where they're on one side of the wash, we come, we make them move, they go to the other side of the wash, we clean it up, we leave, they go back to where they were. But now, with the Supreme Court decision, now we can actually arrest people who are in public property like that," he said.
In June of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion that makes it easier for communities nationwide to fine, ticket or arrest people living unsheltered, even when there is no adequate shelter available.
Specifically, the Supreme Court determined that the “cruel and unusual punishment” clause of the Eighth Amendment does not prohibit cities from enforcing criminal punishments for camping outside against people who are homeless.
"So, if you're caught a couple of times, we're going to arrest you," Segerblom said.
But that comes with its own costs to taxpayers.
"It's $250 a day for jail, so ideally we can figure out a way to incentivize them to take the services we have," Segerblom said. Services to help pull people out of homelessness.
"We actually have places now where we can take what we call Navigation Centers when we first come off the street. After you're there for a couple of days, or 30 days, then we can put you in intermediate housing," Segerblom said.
But as we reported in January, that doesn't always work.
13 investigates hit the streets with the City of Las Vegas's M.O.R.E. team and found most of the unhoused people the team encountered didn't want help.
"Do you want transportation to shelter? Do you want help with your ID? Do you want to go take a shower? Clothing?" a M.O.R.E. team member asked a man in a makeshift tent.
"I already did all that," he responded from under tarps and blankets, without looking out.
"Okay, well, I'm gonna just please advise you to relocate as soon as possible okay?" the team member said. "Because we were out here yesterday. And I'd hate for the enforcement team to come and take all your stuff."
Team members left a card on the walker of a woman in another tented structure who said she would call if she changed her mind and wanted to accept services.
While the county's homeless census found more people are living in shelters this year, the number of individuals living unsheltered remains high. The census shows the unsheltered population counts for more than half of Southern Nevada's homeless.
The resistance to help we saw underscores neighbors' frustration about this nuanced and never-ending issue.
"We just want to know that residents matter," said East Las Vegas homeowner Annoula Wylderich. "That's the bottom line. And we just want some relief and safety."
So what's being done to solve the problem? In the census report, the county details several solutions it's pursuing to address the root causes of homelessness and provide support to those in need.
County leaders have approved more than $170 million for affordable housing. So far, the approved funding has been used to build and rehab more than 3,700 units dedicated to low-income families and seniors in the region.
