Tucked back deep in the woods behind Seymour Street in Warren, the homeless camp was almost impossible to spot until you got right on top of it.

A lean-to made of cut limbs and tarps, it was strewn with bottles, food cans, clothes and trash. A dirty cardboard mat served as a bedroll, and dirty clothes plugged cracks in the roof and kept food mostly dry.

The man who was staying there earlier this week was trespassing, and police were called down to the site by the property owner. They told him to move on, but didn’t arrest them. Later, the man came back and was again escorted off the property.

“That’s really all we can do,” Deputy Warren Police Chief Joseph Loiselle said. “He’s not breaking any laws apart from trespassing. If the owner doesn’t press charges …”

The man, who was not identified as he was not charged, is one of a “small handful” of homeless residents known to Warren police. Police here know generally where they are and try to keep an eye on them; at various times they have set up camp behind Kickemuit Middle School, in the woods behind Job Lot, off Seymour and elsewhere.

When police come in contact with them, they try to direct them to social services agencies in Providence and elsewhere. Places like Amos House are equipped to deal with the homeless; Warren is not, the deputy chief said.

Sometimes they listen to the police’s advice, sometimes they don’t.

Deputy Chief Loiselle has been on the job for years and said he sees more signs of homelessness now than in his early days on the force, though he said the town's cases are still isolated. He said he tries to keep in mind that many ended up homeless through bad luck, poor life decisions or a twist of fate. No matter the reason, he said, they deserve to be treated with human dignity.

“We try to help them when we can,” he said.