Three incidents over Thanksgiving weekend have signaled to the Traverse City Police Department that something needs to be done about a small homeless camp at Hull Park on the north end of Boardman Lake.

An officer driving by the area near the boathouse at 4:44am Monday morning spotted a dumpster fire that damaged a bench and a trash can, says TCPD Interim Chief Jeff O’Brien. Two people nearby denied responsibility.

Some time over the weekend, two kids assaulted two homeless men, O’Brien says. He was not sure whether that incident had been reported to police; he learned about it through homeless advocate Safe Harbor and says at least one of the victims needed to go to the hospital.

Sunday afternoon, police were called to the spot after a homeless man was spotted defecating on the dock.

O’Brien says officials should consider banning alcohol at the park and that police would work on helping the homeless there find safer accommodations.