No one wants the homeless in front of their home.
No one wants a collection of transient alcoholics and addicts, convicts and crazies sitting on the sidewalks or sleeping in cars on the street.
Citizens call dispatch and ask the police to move along the unwanted.
It's problematic. There are no laws prohibiting loitering or vagrancy. Ordinances enacted are struck down by the courts. Unless a vagrant is a danger to himself or others, I can't take him to detox or a hospital. Unless a transient is creating an enormous disturbance or committing a crime, I can't take him to jail.
There are few shelters and they are full. Most transients don't want to be in them. They have rules. You can't drink and you can't shoot up. They don't allow dogs. The sexes are segregated. Street families are broken apart.
And by moving an unwanted subject along, I am only moving the problem along to another street, in front of another home, whose occupant will call dispatch.
