Criminalization of Poverty Run Amok: 500 Anti-Homeless Laws in One State Alone

a reply to: Kreatorkind

Hilarious isn't it. One of my favourites too.

I was very happy to find that gif, happy indeed!!!

The problem with targeting the homeless with these damn laws is it doesn't help them any. It really doesn't, especially when the resources that are supposed to help the homeless get back on their feet are either limited in scope & thus the numbers they can help & how effectively, or outright underfunded (again, limiting how many can be helped) And the general attitudes of the public are no help at all, it's just another method of division, because "I live in a real house and am therefore better than you, you worthless bum" always works at bringing all kinds together < rolls eyes>

I can say that where we used to live in the Tampa Bay area, yeah, there were plenty of homeless (every metro area has a large number) Not many of them caused trouble, to be bluntly honest. A small group of homeless lived in a park near an old residence of ours, they kept the thugs & drug dealers out. No one ever used weapons to do it, just words & a few ram-home-the-point butt-kickings. It was a sweet family-oriented park with a playground area, trails, grilling areas, etc. It used to be fantastic the way it was, even with the homeless. Then the po-po's had a case of the arse, and arrested/cleared the homeless out despite people insisting it was as safe as it was because of them.
It didn't take long for those fricking thugs, gangbangers & drug dealers the homeless guys had kept at bay to move in & ruin it. The neighborhood around the park? It's crime rate soared, robberies & break-ins became a problem that never existed before. The park itself became extremely unsafe, with people being shot at walking the trails or on the playground. Several murders have even happened in broad daylight there now, and muggings are common. It's just not nice or safe there anymore, and seems to be getting worse according to our friends still in the area. It really leaves a nasty taste in my mouth how the police thought they were cleaning this wonderful little gem up, but ended up destroying it by way of handing it over to the real trouble-making SOBs.

The homeless are not our enemy. A small minority of them may be up to no good here & there, but the bulk Ive encountered have no desire to be the bane of someone's existence, and seek to help keep where they call home safe, for everyone.

a reply to: Daedal

Having worked as a LEO in the SF Bay area as well as the L.A. area of CA for more than a decade I can tell you that the vast majority of these laws are never fully enforced to the point of incarceration. 99% of the time its officers discretion and far easier for all involved to issue a verbal warning or a citation unless the contact escalates into something more. Its been my experience that most officers on the job for any length of time understand that arresting homeless people for anything other than a serious crime is usually not the best way to deal with minor issues.

Yeah its a shame that some of these laws need to exist but its not always doom n gloom when it comes to enforcing them :-)

originally posted by: Candycab
a reply to: Daedal

Having worked as a LEO in the SF Bay area as well as the L.A. area of CA for more than a decade I can tell you that the vast majority of these laws are never fully enforced to the point of incarceration.

Please, stop right at the statement "worked as a LEO in the SF Bay area as well as the L.A. area of CA". That's the ONLY reason you were allowed to use "officers discretion" in these cases. If you had worked in say Florida, you would have been written up, overruled by a superior or simply fired. I've lived all over the country and despite the bad PR for police in California, its one of the few states where civil rights are mostly observed by LEO's. I'd personally consider ALL of the southern states mini "police states" due to the way LEO's treat the general public down there (Michigan and Illinois ain't so great either, probably worse in fact).

a reply to: CharlieSpeirs

I think it has to be my favorite SciFi show of all time! They were all so great together.

a reply to: boohoo

I lived in a couple of those Southern States and not only had no problem with the police, all of my dealings with them were perfectly respectful and polite.

I drove a car with expired temp tags for two months and was never stopped. Got pulled over for a bad tag light. Got pulled over for no tags after buying a car in a private sale.

I delivered pizza in one of those towns and the police routinely looked the other way when they saw our signs on the car.