Rather than cleaning up the same homeless camps over and over, San Antonio is preparing to try and put a permanent end to some of them.

Director of Homeless Services and Strategy Mark Carmona said the city hopes to launch a pilot program to "decommission" some of its most entrenched homeless camps through a combination of extra engagement at the sites ahead of time followed by extra attention in the weeks following the cleanup.

The city participates in more than 1,300 camp cleanups, which it calls "abatements," each year.