The Boise River is typically calm and peaceful. That tranquil feeling recedes along the banks of the river, where trash from homeless camps continues to grow.
“There's a needle right there and that's what I was worried about too,” Zach Hylton, a Boise resident said. “There's another needle.”
Hylton walks his dogs along the river and has witnessed a growing number of tents and garbage in the last six months.
“If I’m out here with my dogs and they're sniffing around, and they step on a needle or we're out here trying to clean this stuff up and one of us gets poked by a needle, that's just a risk I don't want to take,” Hylton said.
Needles aren't the only things he has seen pile up along the Boise River.
Hylton has also seen a lot of blankets, clothing, shampoo, propane tanks, a toilet seat, sleeping bags and tents.
“There's garbage everywhere, it's sad,” Hylton said. “Right there in the middle of the trail was a spot where someone went to the bathroom and used socks to go to the bathroom.”
The Boise man also said that he spotted an Albertsons shopping cart one time as well. After seeing the trash grow, Hylton later shared photos of it on social networking site Nextdoor and reached out to the Boise Police Department.
“They immediately came out here took a look at what was going on and then started their process to get it cleaned up,” Hylton said.
Currently, there is a camping ordinance that prohibits people from camping in the city of Boise.
“This is something that happens fairly regularly and it's a challenge that we face in our society with the homeless crisis,” Mike Journee, a spokesperson for the city of Boise, said.
“So, when we come across an area like this or when someone calls in like this good citizen did, we have a process where we go in and we try to educate first and let people know that they're not supposed to be here and then we give them 24 hours to move their items,” Journee said.
Hylton is thankful for the city's quick response but believes there needs to be more regulation.
“How do you blatantly disrespect the land, the very same land you're seeking shelter on,” Hylton said. “If they're going to allow folks to camp on the river there needs to be some rules."
"I don't want to assume that people are going to hurt me if I’m down there by the river or hurt my dog, I just want to go down there and feel comfortable,” Hylton said.