Why are the police ALWAYS Harassing Homeless people?

Question

Do the Police KNOW SOMETHING About the Homeless people that the Rest of up don't?

Answer 1

Homeless people tend to be homeless because of the life that they led. Man have extensive criminal histories or histories of drug abuse. Many still burglarize, steal, and rob to provide for their drug abusive life style. most of these homeless people are not "victims". Stop and talk to a handful of them sometime. Ask them why they are living on the street. Ask them if they have been in trouble. Ask them what their drug of choice is. Ask them, they will tell you. Offer them some $ for their time. You can learn allot. Stop complaining about law enforcement doing preventative maintenance. Get out and see for yourself...

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Police don't harrass people. They just do their jobs. Homeless people loiter all day long, with nothing constructive to do. Ever see them at a job? Most make no money, yet they still have to eat right? How do they get that money? Some beg, which is against city ordinances. Others steal, which of course is against the law.

New York City, several years ago, targeted the guys who would stand on the street corner with a dirty squeege and run out and "clean off" your windshield. Lo and behold, those men were homeless...and most had warrants, many for felonies.

Many ordinances that the homeless people abuse are "quality of life issues". If you are a visitor to a city or a store, do you really want to walk into that area if you see a group of homeless men sitting in the doorway or on the street corner?

Answer 4

I remember our Police Dept. tried to assist a homeless person in our town. We asked if he needed help so we got him a room for a week. Bought him some food and asked him if he wanted help from a local organization to give him a job.... he said, " Hell no i make more money begging on the street than having a real job."

We still ask to this day if we can assist. Many just get on a bus and leave. I wouldn't call that harassing.

Answer 5

By and large, I don't think that's true. It's not a crime to be poor and the police can't hassle people anymore merely for not having a place to live. It used to be years ago that "vagrancy" was a criminal offense in many towns, where you could be jailed just because you had no place to go, had no job, or if you had no money in your pockets. Such laws banning vagrancy were eventually struck down by the supreme court as unconstitutional due to vagrancy being deemed a "status crime" (i.e. it punished somebody for their social status rather than for commiting any actual specific misconduct). And besides, most people have realized by now that the vast majority of the homeless are harmless people who rarely commit serious crimes and don't need to be feared. The only time cops can confront the homeless is when they engage in commiting specific public nuisances, i.e. public urination, sleeping on public benches, aggressive panhandling, begging for money near ATM machines, public intoxication/disorderly conduct and such. Granted, these petty offenses are usually associated with homeless people, but it's not the homelessness itself that is being punished.

Answer 6

Sadly, because the system has totally left these people to fend for themselves. There have such limited resources for them, hence they ARE homeless. The all high and mighty self righteous city councils that want there towns to "appear" pristine to tourists, new business prospects etc want "these people" cleared out. "Doesn't look good, ya know!"
Lots of "them" here in my warm resort CA town. God forbid!
All the towns filthy money -stars at every turn! Limited help for "them." They are here because it is year round warm.
When was the last time YOU did anything to help a homeless person? I am not picking on you, I am picking on everyone.
I mean really, think about it...Do you think that it is a cops favorite job? They are under pressure to "clean up!!!"
Same old story in this country. Dare you to take the time to actually talk to some homeless people!! Get the story for yourself.

Answer 7

Unfortunately the media exposes homeless as poor unfortunate people that are having hard luck and we should help them out..
I would say that the theory applies to maybe 1 percent of homeless. If a family has a father who say loses his job had tough luck, got evicted and tried but could not recover then the police are the first to put money together and help him out and get them on their feet.
The real homeless are truley and 100 percent, people who simply do not want to work, are lazy and love to live on the streets and survive by begging, stealing, and breaking the law to survive. If you see a homeless guy holding a sign saying "will work for food"its a complete scam. I work undercover and we used to hand these guys a full burger king lunch and every single time when we left they throw it in the garbage....I mean every time. They are making money for drugs or alcohol...period. They dont deserve sympathy or help and are a blight on society. They regulary break into homes, cars, commit robberies,violent crimes, do drugs, commit unimaginable acts amongst themselves in their camps (you dont want to know trust me). Giving handouts is the worst thing you can do trust me. I have gone to them and offered them labor jobs and never had one accept...ever. I have offfered them decent shelters to sleep with showers, food, etc....rarely accept. They will kill you if they knew you had money and deserve nothing but to be dealt with by the justice system. Unfortunately the media and these uninformed celebrities all jump on the homeless band wagon and misinform the public. I deal with them every day and trust me this is the real deal. The then Mayor Guiliani of NY targeted almost exclusively the homeless regarding crime and reduced crime by almost 80 percent in the City...absolutely amazing reduction...and that is all crime...violent ect...what does that tell you?
The mentally ill, or unfortunate victims (rare) do deserve help but dont be decived about the others. Never give them handouts....you are supporting a drug or alcohol habit.

Answer 8

Because folks like you are not doing anything for them.

My department got complaints all the time about homeless folks in the city park, panhandling on the street, using the alley as a toilet, spilling trash on the street looking for a pop can to sell. So, once and awhile I'd send to officers out to "sweep" the park and streets. We had homeless shelters, but some were so drug addicted, drunk, or just plain crazy they could not stay there. So the drunks got jailed and the local treatment centers would get overwhelmed when we brought the others in for care.

You see, Steven, folks like you see the cops picking these people up or making them move along, and you complain about it. But, I don't see you going out there to hire one of the castoffs, I don't see you putting one in your car to take home, I don't see you making an effort to cloth or feed any of these folks. Nope, Steven, that is left to the cops to arrange.

Thanks for caring. . .

Answer 9

Yes we do. We deal with them more often than anyone else - including Charity and religious organizations, with the possible exception of shelters.

We know that if where one is "allowed" to loiter, others will congregate. If they are "permitted" to camp, the area will become a trash heap, cess pool. Where one finds success preying on the charity of others by begging, more appear and aggressively pander, even coerce people into "donating" to them!

Most are in their situations by choice. They choose NOT to get out either! There are a few who really need help, but most just refuse to help themselves.

--Z--

Answer 10

The other day I was working and responded to a call of a homeless man smearing his feces on customers sitting at a table outside a restaurant.
'nuff said.