Cops In The Middle, Homeless Kicked Out
I talked to a cop friend this week. He’s been getting complaints about homeless people again. One came from the neighbor of a homeowner who has been letting homeless folks sleep in a shed behind his home. The other came from the owner of a home in a newly redeveloped downtown residential area, near a bridge where some of my homeless friends have slept for more than five years. Both wanted the homeless people gone. In the first situation, it’s illegal for people to be living in the shed, because it doesn’t have a bathroom. In the second situation, the homeless people are trespassing.
The officer is stuck in the middle. He knows the homeless folks have no place else to go, but he has to enforce the law. So he gave them a warning and information about available homeless services, but he still has to go back and make sure they’re gone.
When we talked, I explained to him that the shelters stay full all year now, and that we don’t have all the supportive services we need, and those people wouldn’t be sleeping in the shed and under the bridges if they had someplace else to go. I was upset and frustrated. But I made it clear that I’m not mad at him. He has to do his job.
Honestly, it helps to know that we have officers who will handle it the way he does, with a little mercy and compassion. But the bottom line is, more and more homeless people are being “moved along” to… nowhere. Where are they suppposed to go? I really can’t even think about it right now. It’s just overwhelming.
November 8th, 2006 at 7:46 pm
[...] It started with a call to the officer who went to the bridge this morning to tell our homeless friends living there that they have until Friday to have all of their things cleared out. Anything left will be removed by the City. Some of them have lived under the bridge for years. They have nowhere to go, and no way to move their belongings. They can’t afford housing, the shelters are full, and the few remaining outside “spots” near downtown are taken, as more and more homeless people are pushed into a smaller and smaller space by redevelopment. [...]