“A rough looking young man was a prisoner at the Auburn police court on a charge of vagrancy.

He said, ‘Last evening I was passing through this town on the way to Wells Pond where I was going to work in the woods, the shower came up and I got in the barn for shelter and the police officer came in and pulled me.’

The effect of this story was spoiled by the prisoner’s statement it was the third night he had slept in the barn.”

– Sun Journal, July 1899

In turn-of-the-century Auburn, differentiating between transients and vagrants was easy: spend one night in the barn, you’re a transient. But three nights in the barn? Sorry pal, you’re a vagrant.

Here’s a one-way ticket to the hoosegow.

It’s not so simple nowadays. Vagrancy laws have disappeared, and commonplace rousting of undesirables has integrated more compassionate understandings of social problems wrought by mental illness and substance abuse.

This is the atmosphere facing Auburn, as the city charts its approach to squatters around Moulton Field, where a latter-day “rough looking young man” is accused of murdering a 26-year-old man on a warm evening last month.

The vicious crime highlighted evergreen problems with transients, vagrants and squatters in the woods near the field, which have a reputation for danger and debauchery, especially regarding the consumption of alcohol.

As the 1899 story shows, this is nothing new: Auburn’s dealt with troublemakers passing-through and hanging-on for decades. But neither transients nor vagrants can be simply slung into the local pokey anymore, unlike the halcyon horse-and-buggy days, for just acting anti-social. That time is past.

Auburn’s tough attitude about transients is warranted, but its strategy must be smart. A comprehensive approach, combining policing, business support and outreach to squatters around Moulton Field, could return the best results.

Cutting overgrowth obscuring the camps, and issuing warnings and summonses for trespassing will force inhabitants to find shelter elsewhere. This should be a homeless shelter, not another dark, wooded corner of L-A.

Identifying transients to store owners is hoped to stall their purchases of alcohol. These identities should also be shared with substance abuse counselors and agencies, and police should encourage transients to seek their assistance.

This same should happen with the mentally ill.

In its reaction to the murder, Auburn is rightfully uncompromising toward the squatters. The violence turned that area of the park from nuisance into menace, and deserving of strong response from the community, city and police.

But a crackdown on transients, we fear, will only leave the job unfinished. Outreach among the squatters, coupled with increased enforcement and community support, is a more permanent solution.

In 1899, handling this problem was easier – a yank into the tank. That was then.

Now is a time Auburn can display a more balanced, effective approach.