It’s Time to Close the Revolving Door

Written by Johana Rolles, USF marketing student

Public safety is one of our law enforcement system’s fundamental roles, and its responsibilities are to prevent crimes and apprehend those who break the law.  It strives on the principles of fairness, dignity, and equality.

Homeless individuals do not have a place to live because of numerous reasons.  The most common reasons are the shortage of affordable rental housing and the simultaneous increase in poverty.  Additional factors that contribute to homelessness are eroding work opportunities, decline in pubic assistance, increase in mass incarceration, lack of affordable health care, mental illness, and addiction.  

While law enforcement officers’ focus may be public safety, it calls for questionable and discriminatory actions to be inherent in the system.  Every day they issue tickets to those experiencing homelessness as they engage in basic, life-sustaining behaviors, such as sleeping, sitting, and lying down in public.  This action not only restricts but also threatens homelessness citizens.  These laws make an already tough situation even more difficult yet provide no evidence of pubic safety. 

Law enforcement’s purpose should not be to punish people for doing things that are natural for people but to protect those with no other options except to reside on the streets.  By relying upon law enforcement to address an issue that should more appropriately be considered as falling within the domain of public health, communities are expending a tremendous amount of public money unnecessarily and ineffectively, and exacerbating the underlying causes of homelessness. When working with people experiencing homelessness, our community has a choice of pouring our resources into the ever-revolving door of jails and prisons or investing in our community.  I think we can all agree which option makes more sense.