Policing the Homeless in Lakeland

Homelessness.

Few social problems strike as many nerves as does the issue of homelessness. It spans the boundaries of race, gender, and economic status. The homeless include single men, single women, drug addicts, and unfortunately far too many children. Recent news stories about vicious assaults on the homeless have once again raised concerns about how our community deals with the problem.

Policing the homeless is a complex proposition that also strikes many nerves. Here is a glimpse into the problem from a police perspective.

Whether by choice or by chance, an individual finding themself homeless will discover both empathy and repulsion within our community. Many community members feel a need to help the homeless through financial support or by volunteering their time at one of many service providers in Lakeland. Others feel a tremendous amount of disgust toward the homeless, believing their situation is the result of laziness and choice.

And where do the police fit into this problem? Usually stuck between a rock and a hard place if you want to know the truth - between people who do not believe making arrests will solve the social ills which are the root cause of homelessness (Where is your compassion officer?) to the mindset that we can remove the problem by simply arresting everyone (For gosh sakes officer, do something - they are dirty and disgusting, and they make me fear for my safety!).

The fact of the matter is pretty clear - for whatever the reason someone becomes homeless, their situation reflects a larger social problem for our community. The stark reality of the problem is that it will not be solved merely by enforcing the law. Alcoholism, substance abuse, mental health issues, and unemployment are often associated with the homeless. Thus, arresting someone for a minor violation will not clean up our streets or make the problem go away because arrest is not an effective deterrent to drug abuse, and arrested individuals seem to have a hard time maintaining steady employment when they are in jail.

Lakeland is well known across the country as a very supportive and compassionate community where the homeless can find comfort and assistance. Thus, we end up becoming a magnet for hundreds of individuals who descend upon Lakeland because it is a nice place to be if you are homeless. We pour our hearts and financial support into worthy endeavors to help the homeless - and then get frustrated when their numbers swell beyond what one community can do to assist. We end up with unwanted consequences, including visual blight and sense of fear...and demand the police clean up the problem. If it were only that easy.

A recent letter to the editor in The Ledger asked the question if it is against City Code for the homeless to sleep along the street. The simple answer is no - our camping ordinance that would prohibit such behavior has previously been declared to be unconstitutional, and the homeless have every much of a right to be on a public sidewalk as the next person, regardless of the time of day and no matter how much we dislike the appearance they give to our community.

          

Cops are pretty straight forward when it comes to dealing with social problems like homelessness. If the conditions and behaviors equate to a crime, then I can make arrests all day long - only to flood the criminal justice system with cases and never solve the problem. Give me a range of service providers and alternative strategies that can deal with the problem more effectively than jail, and I will ensure everyone who wants help gets it.

The problem is our officers do not have that option - there simply are more homeless in Lakeland than the social service agencies can help. Why do we have so many homeless? Refer above to the fact that we are known as a compassionate community and a good place to go if you are homeless. You can begin to see the vicious cycle we are into here - one that we cannot arrest our way through.

This issue is too complex to address in a single posting, but we thought it might be beneficial to start some public dialog on the subject once again. So we ask - what are your ideas or concerns about how we should deal with the homeless? What role should the police have in this huge social problem? How does a community like Lakeland best deal with our homeless population? Is compassion the best way to solve the problem or is tough love the answer?

-Asst Chief Bill LePere

Comments

[JC]

I think that the homeless situation is a hard situation but with everyone pulling together we can handle the situation buy getting them back to school and work.Look being homeless is not easy one bit,I know because I myself was homeless. It really sucks waking up wondering if your goin to find food