Arlington is defending the actions of its Hoarding Task Force, a group charged with removing stockpiles of materials from apartments and homes that present dangers to residents.
The task force is comprised of representatives from across Arlington County government, including fire, public safety, social service and housing officials.
It responds to complaints from neighbors or landlords about people who might present a danger to themselves or others because of the large amount of materials being kept in a residence.
“The county’s hoarding task force is more of a bureaucratic mechanism than anything else,” said Arlington spokeswoman Mary Curtius. “It doesn’t have a logo. … They do not act as a SWAT team; they merely coordinate across departments.”
The group has received international attention recently, with stories about its practices in newspapers as far away as London and Australia.
The coverage has focused around Sam Shipkovitz, an Arlington resident described as an eccentric patent lawyer who was prevented from entering the home he was staying in because he refused to remove the papers, clothing, boxes, bags, computers and telephones that were collected inside.
Shipkovitz could not be reached for comment for this story. In the past, Shipkovitz has called the task force “goons” and compared its actions to those of a SWAT team.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia disagreed. Last month, it dismissed a legal challenge by Shipkovitz, as well as a motion to reconsider.
Henry Fitzgerald, an attorney and friend of Shipkovitz, said the court order would be appealed, and that the county did not have the authority to evict Shipkovitz.
Arlington County, however, still finds itself on the defensive. Some have accused the county of overstepping its bounds by forcing someone out of their home, and said they do not have the power to dictate what one keeps in one’s residence.
