Current Events > Former NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton, on homeless people

(+) Yeah! (+)

don't get the notion that all or even most homeless people are benevolent. They are potentially dangerous
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The new Mayor & Police Commissioner have their work cut out for them trying to fix this mess our political leadership & DAs have created by tying the hands of the NYPD. We fixed this 30 years ago when Eric Adams was a Transit cop. Its going to be a lot more difficult in 2022.

Not sure how one looks at this and concludes that other people are the primary victims here, but sure

it's almost impossible, especially in the evenings, to get on a train and expect a quiet commute.

Not the biggest fan of the Police but this guy didn't say anything wrong... Idleness and drugs and homelessness is a problem and it isn't the fault of the people "not helping" ...... I don't know why CE has a hard time with this concept...

that must be such a struggle

I don't know why CE has a hard time with this concept...

Quiet in the sense that you aren't accosted by panhandlers or a mentally ill homeless man swinging his fists in your face.

But you knew that.

I will take my chances walking pass a homeless person over a NYPD .

Quiet in the sense that you aren't accosted by panhandlers or a mentally ill homeless man swinging his fists in your face.

But you knew that.

Can it not be both?

I remember you mentioning moving to Brooklyn a while back -- do you not take the subway to work on a regular basis?

The situation with the homeless - especially those suffering from mental issues - has been atrocious lately and it's almost impossible, especially in the evenings, to get on a train and expect a quiet commute.

Those people are just trying to stay warm. Like fuck off.

https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1474135213345288196

While she has a point let's add to that that we are all aware that the cop isn't there for the homeless person nor should they be, they are not victims of anyone, others are victims of them, potentially (and often). I am FROM brooklyn, I grew up there, do you know how tiresome and frankly nerve racking it is to run into homeless people on some mind-altering substances - ALL the time?

The part I'll never understand, theres a pretty big number that will not accept resources or housing. Here, these are STATS. It takes 17 police and homeless liaison contacts for each subject to just "accept" resources. Meaning, ok you can talk to me now. Even if you somehow magically were able to afford housing for all of the homeless population, their belongings, their pets, financially provide for their lifestyles.

There will always be a percentage of the population that refuses it. Whether it be mental health or drugs.

It's the hard truth nobody is going to want to admit. Without draconian laws, homelessness will NEVER disappear. No matter how much money you think you can cut and take from other places.

Our homeless numbers are still going up fast, despite establishing several new homeless services programs, housing, jobs, etc... Our shelters are not even at 90 percent capacity right now

I feel for the police and others that have to deal with this, though what is the solution?

People don't just get addictions out of nowhere, nor are mental illnesses some constant thing in your life that is always at the same severity. Everyone always love to talk like people are homeless because of those problems, as if it's never the other way around - whatever circumstances of homelessness leading people to develop mental health issues

Probably not as nerve racking a being homeless in a place like New York.

A common stereotype of the homeless population is that they are all alcoholics or drug abusers. The truth is that a high percentage of homeless people do struggle with substance abuse, but addictions should be viewed as illnesses and require a great deal of treatment, counseling, and support to overcome. Substance abuse is both a cause and a result of homelessness, often arising after people lose their housing.

Allowing people to be homeless in a country as rich as the US is a fucking crime. Nobody said that it's easy to deal with homeless people but having more cops to, at best, push them off the subway for a few hours, and at worst, actively abuse them, isn't accomplishing anything.

Sadly even at my most ideal I don't feel like there is much hope for the people who have the baggage of decades of undiagnosed/untreated mental illnesses and/or addictions. But we should still be doing everything we can to help them, and even if that is a place where we have to cut our losses, are we just never going to eliminate homelessness? At least maybe there'd be a chance that in future generations we won't have people getting to this point where it seems like they're beyond help, but we have to be willing to start

What's your point? You really owned me by posting a homeless advocacy sheet lmao

Do you think that I don't also think our addiction and mental health treatment in this country is part of the problem or something

While Sud (substance use disorder) can be a precipitant of homelessness, it does not drive overall rates of homelessness. If it did, we would expect West Virginiawhich leads the nation in drug overdose deathsto have more homelessness on a per capita basis than California. But West Virginia actually has one of the lowest rates of homelessness in the country. Why? Because housing in West Virginia is cheap. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the standard fair market monthly rent for a two bedroom unit was $771 per month in West Virginia and $2,030 per month in California. At those prices, someone who is strugglingwhether due to SUD or for some other reasonmay be able to find housing in the former state when they would have become homeless in the latter.

Which brings us to the actual main driver of homelessness: housing unaffordability. The below graphic from a report by Zillows economics research arm may not be as gripping as Quinoness prose, but it tells a more accurate story about why weve seen such dramatic increases in homelessness over the past several years.

I will take my chances walking pass a homeless person over a NYPD .

Which brings us to the actual main driver of homelessness: housing unaffordability. The below graphic from a report by Zillows economics research arm may not be as gripping as Quinoness prose, but it tells a more accurate story about why weve seen such dramatic increases in homelessness over the past several years.