The Police Response to Homelessness

1 CRITICAL ISSUES IN POLICING SERIES. The Police Response to Homelessness CRITICAL ISSUES IN POLICING SERIES. The Police Response to Homelessness June 2018. This publication was supported by the Motorola Solutions Foundation. The points of view expressed herein are the authors' and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Motorola Solutions Foundation or all Police Executive Research Forum members. Police Executive Research Forum, Washington, 20036. Copyright 2018 by Police Executive Research Forum All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-934485-43-9.

2 Graphic design by Dave Williams. Text photos by Sarah Mostyn, PERF. Cover photo credits, from upper left, clockwise: NYPD Officer Lawrence DePrimo offers a new pair of boots he purchased for a homeless man. photo by Jennifer Foster. Hillsborough County, FL Sheriff's Deputy Linda Ruggerio shares her lunch with a young homeless man. photo by Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Miami Beach, FL Police officers deliver mosquito repellent to community members. photo by Valerie Navarrete. Santa Cruz, CA Police officers conducting a survey of homeless persons in order to gather information and direct individuals to services.

3 photo by Santa Cruz Police Dept. Pinellas County Sheriff's Office deputies and employees of Safe Harbor, a homeless shelter and jail diversion created by the Sheriff's Office. See pp. 12-13 of this report. photo by PCSO. Contents The Police Response to Homelessness : Problem-Solving, Innovation, and 3. By Chuck Wexler Sidebar: Pinellas County Sheriff 's Office Opens a $ Million Facility to Help Homeless What We Know About 14. National Data on States Experiencing High Levels of Causes of Mental Health and Substance 19. A Particular Focus of Police : Chronic 19. Sidebar: Legalized Marijuana and Lack of Affordable 21.

4 Sidebar: Supreme Court Ruling on Free Speech Brings Reversals of Laws on Does the Availability of Services Attract Homeless Individuals to Particular Communities?.. 23. Sidebar: Two PERF Surveys on Homelessness in 1993 and 2018: Many of the Themes Are What Is the Role of the Police ?.. 25. Police Officers' 30. Crime and the Homeless 33. Sidebar: Portland's Service Coordination Team Helps Homeless Persons Involved in Low-Level Sidebar: Homelessness in California: The Unintended Consequences of Criminal Justice Sidebar: A Meta-Analysis of Intervention Programs Reveals Some Evidence of Key Challenges and Promising 41.

5 Homeless Outreach Sidebar: Seattle Navigation Team . Combines Officers and Homelessness Sidebar: Wet Shelters, Dry Shelters, Housing First, and Harm Homeless Encampments Raise Difficult Sidebar: San Diego County's Response to Hepatitis Court Rulings in California Result in Strict Rules Limiting Seizure of Homeless Persons' Sidebar: How Indio (CA) Is Reducing Homelessness and Evaluating Its Homeless Courts Now Operating in More than 30 Sidebar: Cambridge, MA Is Tracking Homelessness With a Focus on Services and Relentless Training Programs for Police Officers Who Work with Homeless Sidebar.

6 Long Beach, CA Is Using a Multi-Disciplinary, Data-Driven Approach to Combat Innovative Uses of Technology and Sidebar: Vacaville's Enhanced Survey Measures The Size and Nature of the Homeless Sidebar: Louisville's Living Room Gives Officers An Alternative to Arrest for Minor Sidebar: San Francisco Police , Public Health, Public Works, and Others Work Funding Regional Partnerships and CONCLUSION: 11 Steps Law Enforcement Agencies Can Take to Improve the Response to 72. About About Motorola Solutions and the Motorola Solutions APPENDIX: Participants at the Critical Issues Meeting.

7 The Police Response to Acknowledgments When PERF decided to hold a Critical Issues in Policing meeting on the Police Response to Homelessness , we weren't sure what to expect. It had been 25 years since PERF last delved into this topic. And while our daily PERF. Clips news service for our members occasionally includes news stories about Homelessness , it wasn't obvious to us that this issue was more than a blip on the profession's radar screen. So it was something of a revelation to us to learn that for many Police departments, the Response to Homelessness is one of the most important issues they face on a daily basis.

8 The fact that 250 people traveled to Long Beach, CA. on January 24, 2018, for our conference indicates how much of a challenge Homelessness presents to the law enforcement profession. We traveled to Long Beach for our meeting because California is Ground Zero on the Homelessness issue. If you ask a California Police chief to name his or her most challenging issue, chances are they will tell you it is Homelessness . I salute all of the Police chiefs and sheriffs, other command personnel, supervisors, and front-line officers, along with local government and commu- nity partners and researchers, who participated in our meeting.

9 You brought a rich and diverse mix of experiences and perspectives to the table. Your willing- ness to share new ideas and promising practices made this publication possible. Any time PERF hosts a meeting outside of our home base in Washing- ton, DC, we rely on local agency support. For this meeting, we could not have asked for a better, more helpful partner than the Long Beach Police Depart- ment. Chief Robert Luna and his team helped us with planning and logistics, and offered their assistance every step of the way. Particular thanks go to Peggy Berroa-Morales and Fabiola Smith, who helped with the sign-in process as hundreds of attendees arrived at the meeting.

10 Twenty years ago PERF started the Critical Issues in Policing series. This is our 34th Critical Issues project, all made possible by the support of the Motor- ola Solutions Foundation. Because of the foundation's forward-thinking gener- osity, PERF is able to research cutting-edge issues such as the Police Response to Homelessness , and we are able to provide timely guidance to the profession through meetings and publications such as this one. Our thanks go to Greg Brown, Motorola Solutions Chairman and CEO;. Jack Molloy, Senior Vice President for Sales, North America; Jim Mears, Senior Vice President; Gino Bonanotte, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Acknowledgments 1.