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Tuesday, April 14, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Reader poll
Homeless advocates say police handed them this flier that told people what they should and should not do if they want to "help end homelessness in our community."
Sun Archives
- Growing homeless settlement vexes business, Goodman (4-3-2009)
- LV City Council addresses homeless issues (3-18-2009)
- Despite pressing needs, wishes are modest (12-22-2008)
- Annie Wilson, Metro Police's liaison to the homeless (12-10-2008)
- First things first: For homeless, a home (4-22-2008)
Beyond the Sun
Homeless corridor along Foremaster
Geoff Sample and other members of the Green Valley Christian Center have been turning their faith into action once a month for five years by feeding the homeless.
But on March 15, when Sample and about 15 others took sandwiches to the string of tents on Foremaster Lane at Main Street, they were met by police.
“Three steps out of our vehicles,” Sample said, “a Metro officer comes over, writes down our license plates and says, ‘I’m going to write you a warning ... This is a new enforcement policy.’ ” When Sample asked the officer whether his group could go somewhere else with the sandwiches, the officer told them they would be “written up” anywhere else as well.
Sample didn’t know it at the time, but Metro officers had recently begun driving away church groups and others who try to give food, clothes and other donations to homeless people in the Foremaster area. Police have threatened to cite good Samaritans for any possible violation, such as parking in a no-parking zone.
Deputy Chief Gary Schofield said he found out about this shortly after Sample’s run-in with the officer. Schofield attempted to find out who came up with the policy and how many warnings or citations officers had issued.
As of Monday, he had no answers but was clear on one thing: He had dumped the policy.
“When I found out about it, I said, ‘Are we really giving warning citations to churches?’ ... I don’t think you can address the problem of homelessness by giving citations,” Schofield said.
The deputy chief added that he intends to conduct a public meeting on the issue from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at Metro’s Downtown Area Command Center, 621 N. Ninth St.
Metro’s approach to homelessness is an issue because the homeless camp along the street has once again stirred public debate. As in the years 2004 to 2006, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is a very vocal participant, yet again raising the idea of forcing homeless people to accept services and making the homeless sort of wards of the city under the principle of “in loco parentis,” Latin for “in the place of a parent.”
Turning homeless people into wards of the government has been beaten back elsewhere because it is unconstitutional, according to Philip Mangano, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.
And although Schofield may have put a stop to citing churches, the practice left a bad taste for some.
Josh Collins is a self-described street preacher who has been in the Las Vegas area for two years. In early March, he said, a Metro officer ordered him and others off the Foremaster sidewalk. Collins refused. He wound up in jail, charged with “pedestrian interference.” He pleaded not guilty and says the charges were eventually dismissed. Still, he said, the idea of simply running off those who would offer help to the homeless is just one step removed from “criminalizing being poor.” It’s criminalizing helping the poor.
Sample said his church group is “not trying to be a nuisance” and intends to meet with Shannon West, the regional homeless service coordinator, to seek a solution. “I still believe there are hungry people out there,” Sample said.
West also said she didn’t know who had thought up Metro’s policy, or when. She said the idea had been discussed in a monthly meeting of the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition’s Committee on Homelessness, which she attends. She said she hoped churches and other groups would reconsider the practice of feeding homeless people and instead partner with or donate to other, larger projects, such as Help Hope Home, a regional endeavor that has attempted to raise money for helping the homeless since 2005, but has raised only about $50,000 to date.
Sample said the officer who shooed him away handed him a flier with the logos of the regional committee and of Help Hope Home. It told people what they should and should not do if they want to “help end homelessness in our community.” One of the three items on the “don’t” list is “don’t hand out food on the street.” One of three suggestions on the “do” list is “donate to the Southern Nevada Homeless and Housing Trust Fund.”
Schofield said he is certain Metro is “not going to fix the problem” of homelessness and compared it with other social problems such as gangs. “Simply arresting everybody ... isn’t going to do it,” he said. He thinks neighborhoods such as the one surrounding Foremaster need to come together to address the issue.
Sample said it was “a giant waste of cop time to be dealing with me feeding the homeless.”
Schofield allowed that Metro “should’ve probably done a better job at reaching out to the churches instead of trying to explain the issues on the hood of a patrol car.”
I've been driving by that homeless camp situation at nights many times and every time it shocks me. Just a few blocks off Downtown where the casinos must dump all buffet food at the end of the day by low, here are the people who have basically lost everything and struggle just to survive. I don't know if it would be dangerous to stop and help these people, and that's why I have kept on driving so far. Does anybody have experience on that? I would gladly bring these people water bottles and something to eat if it's sure that I don't end up with a hit of a baseball bat on my head , somewhere on the street, with my money gone and the car, too. I think it's in the city's power to help these people and find a place where they could live on. A shower per day plus a little something to eat, shouldn't be too much for the city to spend, am I right? They could for instance raise the hotel tax by 0.50 per cent point and use that money for feeding these poor people. I wouldn't have a problem with that.
From Switzerland
Oscar the Grouch & Metro with their silly games.
Where else ON THIS PLANET is it illegal to give homeless people a sandwich?
Pigeons, ducks, geese, zoo animals, ok.
But your former neighbor? People on the down & out? Fellow human beings? It's SICK SICK SICK.
Of all the sins committed here in Sin City, this is by far the most egregious. Vegas has no soul.
I'd like to know why the police are handing out fliers that are telling the public what they should and shouldn't do when it comes to helping the homeless. And it looks to me like the Help Hope Home is a sham, they have been operating since 2005 and have only raised $50,000 yeah right!
And why are the police endorsing these particular organizations? If investigated you can almost guarantee that there is a connection through family or something to someone on the police force. And what if all you have to offer is some food and can't afford to donate cash so
someone at one of these so called non-profits can make there car payment or the payment on there $500,000 dollar home. That's like going to church in your beater of a car giving a donation to the church when you should be getting one and then watching the Pastor hop into his new Cadillac after service and wave at you as he rolls by! When you walk into a church and they have 50 inch plasma screens everywhere and PC TV's on the walls for advertising up coming events, enough sound and video equipment to make a professional quality movie doesn't that make people stop and think that maybe those thousands of dollars could have been used for a better cause?
What is the reason these people are homeless? Are they mentally handicapped? Are they criminals looking to escape the law? Are they people who have ben abused by a family member and have nowhere else to go, or are they people who have lost their homes due to the recession? Are there children involved? I guess in my opinion, it is a double edged sword. Seeing homeless people on a busy street is disturbing to the point where it is an eyesore. But on the other hand, humans are an eyesore? What? It is suppose to be a free country, but you don't have the right to infringe upon the comfort of other people's life style. Are these people in the frame of mind for negotiations? Or are they just trying to make a statement? Las Vegas is a big city...who would it hurt if they moved to the outskirts where they could have their privacy if they wanted it and the people that are on Foremaster can have theirs? Or have I totally missed the true picture altogether?
Boris from Switzerland-Homeless people are everywhere. Go to LA-(LA LA land), near Union Station, and you will see thousands, yes thousands of bums laying on hillsides at night. They have a holding area for them-I call it Bum Park-they line up in the afternoon to try and get a bed for the night. Ranting, raving peeing smelly lunatics. Boris, the problem is that most of the homeless don't want help-they won't accept it unless it involves food or booze. When you are happy sleeping in a refrigerator box outside a strip center, there's little that we can do to change your lifestyle. Yes, they have mental health problems, but to get them to change their ways is so problematic and costly that it is, in my opinion, impossible. Many bums in Switzerland?
Many of these homeless have either fallen through the cracks in the beaucracy, have just given up and/or simply just 'don't trust' the beaucracy. They witness lines formed and standing for hours to get a bed for the night at the Catholic Charity accross the street to get a bed and shower for the night. However some are plauged with alcohol and/or drug abuse but I am here to tell you most are decent human beings more willing to help and share what they can't afford to hand out themselves. I've seen more courtesy rendered on Foremaster Lane than I've seen at City Hall. If we can give amnesty to millions of illegal aliens, then why can't we give amnesty to our own? I've been there! I felt the helplessness and lonliness of this lifestyle and it hurts beyond words. I challenge any City Official to empty their pockets, dress accordingly and go down to Foremaster Lane and
spend a night on Foremaster, then comment.
Funny thing about this article -- the police have been citing people for feeding the homeless based on some vague "policy." Yet no municipal ordinance was mentioned, only something about "pedestrian interference."
This sounds suspiciously like the cops are making it up as they go along, something they are forbidden to do under this republican form of government -- they are law enforcers, not lawmakers. Instead they are actively chilling these good citizens' charitable activities AND the federal First Amendment's promise of peaceful assembly and association. This is a promise every cop swore an oath to uphold.
Apparently Metro hasn't learned the lesson from Katrina -- government institutions don't react as well to crises as people. Neille Ilel's excellent piece on this subject for the December 2006 Reason magazine -- "A Healthy Dose of Anarchy" -- sheds great light on this point.
The American people may be the biggest givers in the world for disasters and crises. For Metro to even suggest we can't do it for the less fortunate on our own streets is great hypocrisy. It's obvious this police agency is badly in need of budget cuts -- this article shows they have nothing better to do than station themselves near the homeless and harass these good citizens with sandwiches -- and reprogramming from bullies with badges back to their true role in this community!
All major cities are experiencing an increase in homelessness as a result of the recession. Nothing that's been tried (including San Francisco's giving them cash handouts) works.
"What is the reason these people are homeless? Are they mentally handicapped?"
Who cares? No reason could justify barring charities and caring community members from feeding the needy.
Strike me down, cause I never thought I would ever say this seriously, but: What would Jesus do?
Unfortunately Boris R, the Health District advises against giving food to the homeless. Something about health, responsibility and liability issues!!! I'll continue to do what I can and give money.
This will be cool, whenever I'm hungry now I can put my grunge clothes on and go get free food!!! Beats buying the newspaper for the 2 for 1 buffet coupon.
Instead of sitting there complaining about it why not do something about it. We serve an avg. of 700 meals on the streets. Not everyone that we serve are drunk or crazy. They are good people caught in a bad situation. www.homelesshelpersnv.org
The Catholic Worker House in Las Vegas serves hundreds of meals, four days a week. There is a place you can actually get involved and help work the soup line.
You can also donate food or cash...
http://www.lvcw.org/
I think these officers could better serve Las Vegas by hanging out at Star Nursery, Home Depot, ect and arresting the illegals, instead of writing citations to law biding citizens.
Good idea Linda.
Go to pbs.org and watch "Little Dorritt" online. On the website an English professor talks about the institution of debtor's prison in England in the early 1800's. (I wonder if there were homeless camps in London also). The role of Mr. Dorritt, who is living in debtor's prison, is played by Tom Courtenay. He played Strelnikov in "Dr. Zhivago" and although he is 45 years older, his voice is quite recongnizable. One character in "Little Dorritt" is supposed to be a Bernie Madoff type who looks rich but is actually running a ponzi.
Where is the ACLU in all of this? I can't imagine that this practice would stand up constitutionally under any circumstances.
The right (or ability) of one person to give another person food (be they hungry, homeless or not) is unquestionably not a legitimate concern of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police.
Using this bogus enforcement as cover for the admitted policies discouraging homeless encampments is cynical at best, and approaches what might be called institutionalized evil.
Are you people crazy? With all the homeless childern and families, YOU make it illegal to help those that can't help themselves? Even if there is a small faction of the homeless out there that choose that life style, YOU opt to punish them all?
Just pray to God that YOU never become so hard up to need someone to feed YOU, because You will starve under the present administration!
Fools!
who are you addressing, scoobiesusieque?
As with any "group" there is a great desparity in the make up of its' members. There is a percentage of the homeless population that are affected by mental health issues, a percentage that are affected by drugs or alcohol, and a percentage that choose to remain homless. But what difference does this make in whether or not trying to help them out in some small fashion is a citeable offense? And what of the larger percentage of the homeless population whom are not in that circumstance by choice? What of the children whom are thrust into the homeless condition by no fault of thier own? Why should the actions of those who can in some small way help these less fortunate individuals be punished? Have we as a society become so callous to the less fortunate that we now tolerate our elected officials mandating punishment for those who want to help in THIER own legal and compassionate way? I for one have supported Oscar in almost all of his endeavors, however, with his lack of compassion for the homeless, and his actions against them, maybe his time has come to an end. I wonder who will take his seat, and when that happens maybe more attention will be given to the less fortunate of this community, instead of a Mob museum honoring those who helped him accumulate his fortune, or a new city hall. Maybe our County Commissioners need to hear from the citizens of Clark County whom have compassion in thier hearts.
One last thing, those of you who like to criticize the Police officers, get a grip. They are only doing what they're told. Metro does not make policies regarding those trying to help the needy. I know plenty of Officers who volunteer for a number of charitable organizations focused on helping those in need.
Many policies in Clark County need to be rethought.Several laws and policies make it extremely hard to get work and back on your feet here and punishing people for helping people is the last thing that should be done.Just the expense of having all your sponsored work cards that are required to get a job create a huge part of the problem.The homeless need a real solution to help not just forcing them into a shelter or jail for a few weeks just to wind up right back in the same place they are now.