It’s become a fire season tradition for the Grass Valley Police Department. Sergeant Dan Kimbrough says over the next few months they’ll be checking for illegal homeless camps in the Brunswick Basin. He says a lot of the area is overgrown, which provides cover for the camps…

And Kimbrough says since last year’s formation of a Strategic Response Unit, funding by local voter-approved tax measures. It consists of two officers specifically dedicated to the issue. He says there’s been a dramatic reduction in the number of camps…

Kimbrough says the department has also gotten a lot more help from residents reporting illegal camps. The department says they’re also utilizing a wide variety of new, and some older, equipment to help in location, identification, and removal.