NYPD’s Plan for Getting Rid of Homeless People: Shame Them
Turning storefront ledges into spikes. Bussing homeless people out of cities. Outlawing panhandling. All of these rather draconian measures have been adopted by cities to discourage and disperse homeless people. Now, a group of New York Police Department officers have adopted a new method they hope will curb homelessness—posting pictures of them online.
A Flickr page run by an NYPD union, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, contains upward of 300 photos of people sleeping on park benches, asking for spare change, and even urinating in public. Some captions contain a location, while others poke fun at those pictured, calling them “bums and trash” or “disgusting.” Many of those pictured appear to be trying to shield themselves from the unwanted attention by covering their faces or turning away from the photographer.
The purpose of the photos is to compile a report to hand off to government officials to demonstrate the uptick of “quality of life” offenses in New York City, according to a letter from union President Sergeant Ed Mullins, obtained by The Huffington Post.
Mullins’ letter cites new protocols for NYPD police officers as a cause for concern, including reporting instances of force, body cameras, and criminalizing choke holds, which came under scrutiny after the banned practice resulted in the death of Eric Garner last year.
None of the guidelines appear to specifically point to an officer’s interaction with a homeless person. Instead, Mullins uses the new regulations to highlight what he considers additional burdens placed on police officers, while critiquing lawmakers for the increase in homelessness in the past two years under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s leadership. The union did not immediately respond to TakePart’s request for comment.
Homelessness in New York City has reached a record high, with approximately 60,000 people sleeping in shelters nightly, according to a 2015 report for the Coalition for the Homeless. The rate of homelessness in New York has risen by almost 30 percent since 2007, with roughly 75 percent of the homeless population living in the city.
Mullins and the 100 followers of the Flickr campaign—called “Peek-a-Boo, We See You Too!”—aren’t alone in their frustration with the homeless population. An August poll found that 53 percent of New York City voters disapproved of how de Blasio is handling homelessness and poverty, despite the fact that many experts attribute the current state of homelessness to Michael Bloomberg, de Blasio’s predecessor. Bloomberg’s strict policies included outlawing food donations to homeless shelters because the city can’t assess their nutritional value.
De Blasio’s approach to ending homelessness is a more sympathetic one, and aims to assist people who are homeless instead of criminalizing them. He recently proposed a $22 million mental health initiative. An affordable housing program is reportedly in the works for early next year.
Given de Blasio’s plans to support the homeless population and obvious understanding of the problem, the union’s campaign seems misguided at best and dehumanizing at worst. Demonizing the people who live on the streets does little to get at the root causes of homelessness, such as unemployment and high rents. As permanent supportive housing has long been regarded as the key to ending homelessness, creating affordable places to live is likely to be much more effective than posting pictures of people online.
Related stories on TakePart:
• Don’t Let Them Eat Cake: More U.S. Cities Are Banning Feeding the Homeless
• See the Photo That Inspired Strangers to Change One Homeless Kid’s Life
Original article from TakePart
