Homeless Hungry Sick & Tired. 2016. Charleston. WeHeartWV. Web. 21 Feb. 2017. By: Toni Eby, Operations Manager This week my co-worker relayed an alarming incident of police contact with a local elderly homeless woman. The woman was living on the street near the downtown Caltrain station when San Francisco Police and the Department of Works arrived to clear out the homeless encampment. The facts are unclear as to what lead up to the ensuing incident, but what happened next was an inexcusable act of cruelty and criminalization by public servants. The woman was disabled and was using a walker for assistance; however, despite the fact that she obviously had some mobility issues, the police confiscated her walker and threw it on the Caltrain tracks. The police officers then proceeded to threaten to have the elderly homeless woman arrested if she didn’t immediately leave the area! This woman was treated like a criminal for simply trying to find shelter and safety. Everyday Occurrence These stories of criminalization and degradation are all too common occurrences throughout the United States. This alarming trend first came to my attention over twenty years ago when I experienced bouts of homelessness myself. Due to experiencing homelessness and witnessing this disturbing pattern first hand, reaching out and giving back to the community became increasingly important to me. This is especially true now as I currently work at a transitional housing program that provides housing and intensive case management for homeless women that have been sexually exploited. I hear stories of homelessness from the women of the program on a daily basis, and it has become increasingly evident that somewhere along the way empathy for people who are homeless has declined while criminalization of the homeless population is on the rise. No one can deny that the criminalization of homelessness is a complex issue, but criminalization should not be seen as the only solution to the homeless crisis. Currently people who are homeless are criminalized in a variety of different ways, and many fail to remember that when talking about the homeless population we are talking about human beings. While this is an extremely complex issue, it is important to keep in mind that the homeless population is made up disproportionately of minorities; furthermore, homeless people are a sub-population of the larger criminalization issue of minorities being disproportionately targeted by the criminal justice system. With that in mind, one of the main ways that homelessness is criminalized is by targeting the most basic needs for survival such as sleep and hunger. Countless cities have enacted ordinances that make it illegal to sleep outside, to sleep in your car, to sit on the sidewalk or to ask for money for food. One example is a camping ban ordinance in Denver Colorado that was enforced with concern for city property and very little concern for the citizens that are homeless. According to Jack Healy, author of The New York Times article “Rights Battle Emerges in Cities Where Homelessness Can Be a Crime,” videos have surfaced that show “the police seizing blankets and tents on the cusp of winter.” This example highlights the complete lack of empathy of the Denver police in seizing the most basic necessities for survival. Struggles with mental health issues and drug addiction are also highly prevalent throughout the homeless population and are another way that criminalization occurs within that community. Both of these types of criminalization lead to higher rates of incarceration of homeless people, but do little in the way of coming up with solutions. Multiple Viewpoints There are a multitude of viewpoints when it comes to the complex issue of homelessness; however, criminalization only addresses one side of the issue while completely ignoring the concerns of the other side. When trying to come up with solutions, multiple viewpoints must be taken into account. On one hand, it is socially challenging to encourage tourism in a city when it becomes difficult to walk down the side-walks while trying to avoid stepping on tents, sleeping people, drug paraphernalia or human feces. City leaders, homeowners, and business groups complain that the tent cities that have popped up throughout the United States are harming tourism, business and property values. These groups are the ones that tend to call the police on people who are homeless because they feel there are no other options available. To this group criminalization serves the purpose of removing the homeless population from sight. On the other hand, you have human rights and homeless advocates that are arguing that people who are homeless are simply seeking to survive and by criminalizing their most basic survival needs you are adding additional barriers to rising out of homelessness. For example, giving people tickets for sleeping in their vehicles when they are homeless eventually leads to the loss of the vehicle and thus they have no transportation when opportunities for work are available. Human Rights activist further argue that there is not enough housing or shelter available for the homeless population. Gentrification in cities throughout the country has led to many low income families being pushed into homelessness. In The New York Times article “D.C. Homelessness Doubles National Average as Living Costs Soar,” Laura Zeilinger, director of the Department of Human Services in Washington, is quoted as having said, “people underestimate the degree to which housing is out of reach for certain people” (Weiland, 2017). Criminalization often ignores the concerns of this group and further degrades and demoralizes the homeless population. Solving the issue of homelessness is going to require both sides to come together and work to find solutions. Alternative Solutions All things considered, the homeless crisis is not going to be solved overnight; however, criminalization should not be considered as the main solution to the problem. City leaders, business groups and home owners all want the homeless population out of sight, while activist want the homeless treated with respect and dignity. Despite the enormity of the problem, we cannot give up on hope for solutions. Some cities and states have learned that housing the homeless population is actually cheaper than leaving them on the streets. This is one of the many alternatives to criminalization and actually provides a solution that meets the goals of those on both sides of the issue. However, progress is slow and until these methods can be proven to reduce the rates of homelessness, many cities will continue to criminalize our most vulnerable populations. Works Cited Healy, Jack. “Rights Battles Emerge in Cities Where Homelessness Can Be a Crime.” The New York Times. N.p., 9 Jan. 2017. Web. 5 Feb. 2017. Homeless Hungry Sick & Tired. 2016. Charleston. WeHeartWV. Web. 21 Feb. 2017. Weiland, Noah. “D.C. Homelessness Doubles National Average as Living Costs Soar.” The New York Times. N.p., 1 Jan. 2017. Web. 13 Feb. 2017. You have been fined for being homeless. 2014. Soup 2 Nuts Media. Web. 21 Feb. 2017. Comments are closed.
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