Why Do Cities Respond to Homelessness with Criminalization?

Developed by Community Solutions, a nonprofit housing advocacy group, and researchers from Cornell and Boston University, the report collected survey responses from the mayors of America’s 100 largest cities and found that police departments are largely influential in implementing local homelessness policies. For example, half of them either do not have city staff dedicated to homeless outreach or rely on their police department for outreach. About three-quarters of police departments with outreach teams, also known as HOTs, formally incorporate police into their outreach efforts instead of relying on social workers or mental health professionals.

BU’s 5 NSF Grant Winners Are Changing Conversations in Robotics, Computing, Mass Incarceration, Neurology, and More

Behind their research on topics ranging from mass incarceration to the brain and lungs to delivery robots, five experts and scientists at Boston University have received Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to advance scientific research in their fields. The researchers receiving the awards are also laying the foundation for the next generation of scientists by using the funding to support students and youth educational programs and to diversify STEM.

Why Are So Many Cities’ Homeless Policies Punitive?

There is a strong body of evidence on what works when it comes to resolving homelessness – housing – and what does not work – punitive policies like criminalization and homeless sweeps that move people around while discarding their belongings. So why do so many American cities seem vexed when it comes to this issue, constantly framing people who are unhoused as threats to public safety while simultaneously promising a compassionate approach?

Police are shaping and enforcing homelessness policies. It’s making the problem worse, researchers say.

As cities throughout the U.S. grapple with the rising number of people experiencing homelessness, many have asked police to enforce local laws against camping, sitting on sidewalks, and sleeping or eating in public, according to the brief. Pressure to use police to address homelessness often comes from residents and businesses that complain about the sight of unsheltered homelessness, it states.

‘Street crisis team’ aims to curb police involvement in homelessness response in San Francisco

In San Francisco, a “street crisis team” of trained practitioners will now respond to non-emergency calls involving people experiencing homelessness through a yearlong, $3 million pilot program announced by Mayor London Breed last week. Law enforcement has historically responded to these calls, and the new Homeless Engagement Assistance Response Team is part of a larger city effort to reduce the need for police to be the primary response for people experiencing a crisis on the street, according to last week’s news release. Decreasing the use of police can reduce cycles of incarceration, which are expensive for cities and harm people experiencing homelessness, said Charley Willison, an assistant professor of public and ecosystem health at Cornell University who co-authored a new policy brief on the role of police in cities’ responses to homelessness.

Report: Police response to homelessness is inherently punitive

Clearing encampments and arresting those living on the streets might temporarily remove homelessness from the public eye, but it doesn’t help unhoused residents retain housing or recover their longterm stability. Even so, a new policy brief from the researchers behind Boston University’s annual Menino Survey of Mayors finds the majority of American cities still rely on police departments to address homelessness.

America Has Decided That Homeless People Aren’t People

Last week, when 30-year-old Jordan Neely was choked to death on an F-train in New York City, video circulated showing the hands of passengers holding him down as Neely, who was homeless at the time, flailed his arms and legs. Neely had been yelling at passengers, though no video has circulated about the events leading up to his killing. He reportedly said that he was “fed up,” hungry, and thirsty, a witness named Juan Alberto Vasquez told CNN. The city medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. The Manhattan District Attorney is investigating the killing but has not yet pressed charges.

Policing Health

Well before #DefundThePolice went viral, abolitionist activists and scholars had been calling for the redirection of funds from the criminal legal system into a broad set of nonpunitive community resources. Prior research has illustrated the expansive role police currently play in responding to social problems and health emergencies that could be addressed in other ways. To test this premise, we embarked on a study that asked whether a greater investment in social programs might reduce community reliance on police.