Oscar Perez

LEPSL 500

10/24/2020

Prof D. Voss

Assignment: The Next Critical Issue

Six critical issues were presented during this contemporary issues course because of the impact

each of these issues has on law enforcement. While researching each of these topics, one subject was

observed that influenced, affected, and was present in each of the six critical issues. This subject was

homelessness and is law enforcement's next critical issue as it impacts law enforcement and public

safety at the federal, state, and local levels and has implications to have a growing impact on crime. The

following is an analysis of the homelessness issue, the various elements of this issue, and the strategies

law enforcement professionals should be implementing to best prepare for this issue moving forward.

Homelessness has been an exponentially growing issue throughout this country. Although

organizations and entities that collect data on homelessness have slightly deferring definitions and

categorizations of homelessness, the overall data collected regarding homelessness shows an increase.

In 2017, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development tracked approximately 553,000

people who were homeless nationwide (PERF, 2018). While this is a countrywide issue, homelessness

impacts the state of California at a higher rate than any other state in this country. Of those 553,000

identified homeless individuals, the state of California accounts for approximately 25% of the entire

nation’s homeless population totaling approximately 151,000 homeless individuals (PERF, 2018). Since

2009, the state of California has seen a 9% total rise in homelessness. Southern California is no

exception to this critical issue. Orange County saw an increase in its homeless population that

translated to approximately 7000 individuals being homeless on average every night. From 2014 to the

present, the homeless population has resulted in having 1,714 adults documented in the North Orange

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County area (City Net, 2018). Of the 1714 documented adults, approximately 450 were staying in the

city of Buena Park throughout the day. This concentration of homeless adults resulted in generating

1,029 calls for service from April to October of 2018. For an organization of approximately 100 sworn

officers, this was a large consumption of police services and resources. Observing these high homeless

numbers, one would think that not enough resources or money was being allocated toward

homelessness which is not the case. In the 2015-2016 fiscal year, Orange County spent $60,093,851 on

homeless services (Snow, 2019). Federal Spending on homelessness results in $3.1 billion a year.

As law enforcement leaders, it is crucial to identify the causation and topics intertwined in this

exponentially growing issue. When doing so, it is clear this growing issue is multifaceted and caused by

various reasons which touch multiple spectrums, organizations, and social programs within our society.

The main identified and agreed causes of homelessness are unemployment, poverty, substance

abuse/dependency, unaffordable housing, and mental health (CDC, 2014). Of these identified causes of

homelessness, law enforcement and public safety consensus concluded substance abuse and mental

health are the two most apparent factors of homelessness. While being homeless is not in itself a crime,

law enforcement receives calls generated from homelessness that are predominately substance abuse

or mental health-related that caused the profession to “own” the issue.

Research has shown that nearly 50% of the homeless population has been the victim of a

violent crime and 40% of the population had been arrested for “severe-status activities” (Ferguson,

2012). This data reaffirms the homelessness populations' need for assistance from law enforcement to

prevent further victimization and intervention to deter repeat criminal activity. As law enforcement task

became to solve this issue, it quickly learned of the high expense to alleviate this issue. As law

enforcement attempted to arrest its way out of the issue, massive amounts of wasted resources were

observed and observed that incarcerating homeless individuals to solve this issue only created more

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barriers and hardships. Ultimately, case law (Martin V. Boise) ruled this incarceration methodology as

cruel and unusual ending this policing method (NLCHP, 2019). The implementation and enactment of

Ab109 and proposition 47 further compounded law enforcement's ability to utilize incarceration as a

deterrent in California. These changes had an unfortunate consequence that caused the law

enforcement leverage of getting offenders into drug treatment centers and off the street to be

abolished because misdemeanor level narcotic charges no longer lead to incarceration or serious

consequences.

Understanding the severity of the available data, Law enforcement must find a solution to this

issue. After reviewing the research, it is clear that there is not a single solution to this complex issue.

Based on evidence and data, there have been identified actions and initiatives that have proven to be

effective throughout the country. These initiatives and strategies were identified by over 250 law

enforcement personnel and experts at a critical issues in policing conference (PERF, 2018). The

initiatives and strategies were selected as they produced positive results and impacts toward

homelessness.

The primary strategy identified was to have law enforcement organizations take on a problem-

solving and multi-disciplinary approach toward this issue. The problem-solving approach allows

agencies to analyze their local specific challenges and work with the government, private sector, and

health care organizations to address local issues as each community homeless issue is unique. The

utilization of a multi-disciplinary approach allows organizations to take on this issue with the essential

assistance of service providers such as human services, housing organizations, employment agencies,

and non-profit organizations to formulate the most effective approach for the people in need to

overcome homelessness.

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 Another identified initiative that has shown positive outcomes when dealing with this issue is

the creation of homeless outreach teams within police departments. These units provide focus on

specific homeless issues, alleviate patrol officers, and obtain/utilize expertise strategies/training to best

address specific cases. The homeless outreach teams of surrounding jurisdictions can rely on regional

partnerships to ensure one community's homeless issue is not displaced to another community and

allows law enforcement organizations to coordinate and intertwine resources to obtain long term

resolutions.

Another efficient strategy is the creation and expansion of diversion programs such as homeless

courts that provide individuals with services for substance abuse, mental health treatment, job

readiness, and other assistance is effective in addressing underlying long-term issues and less costly. To

address homelessness and obtain the resources needed to pay for expenses agencies should utilize

multiple funding sources such as grants, special taxes, and charitable organizations (PERF, 2018).

Law enforcement deals with numerous critical issues. When researching many of the issues law

enforcement faces, the topic of homelessness affects and influences many of the contemporary issues

facing law enforcement that makes it law enforcements next critical issue. Although homelessness is

not illegal, it has become a law enforcement issue as its primary causations of substance abuse and

mental health result in a police interaction and the homeless population has high victimization and

offending rates. As law enforcement realized homelessness expensive adverse effects and lack of

success from incarceration, effective strategies were needed to solve and alleviate this issue. Problem-

solving models and approaches such as homeless outreach units and collaborations between multiple

agencies and organizations from both the private and public sectors were identified, as being critical to

have all the resources necessary to address the multifaceted issue of homelessness efficiently and

effectively. Word Count: 1189

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 Resources

Bauman, Tristia. The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities, 2019, nlchp.org/wp-

content/uploads/2019/02/No_Safe_Place.pdf.

“California Homelessness Statistics.” Homeless in California Statistics 2018. Homeless Estimation by

State | US Interagency Council on Homelessness, 2019, www.usich.gov/homelessness-
statistics/ca/.

PERF. “The Police Response to Homelessness.” Police Forum Critical Issues in Policing Series, Police
Executive Research Forum , June 2018,
www.policeforum.org/assets/PoliceResponsetoHomelessness.pdf.

“SOH: State and CoC Dashboards.” National Alliance to End Homelessness, 13 May 2020,
endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homelessness-statistics/state-of-homelessness-
dashboards/?State=California.

Snow, David A. “Homelessness in Orange County; the Cost to Our Community.” Homelessness in Orange
County , 2017, www.unitedtoendhomelessness.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/united-way-
cost-study-homelessness-2017-report.pdf.