SECOND PILLAR
Removing Law Enforcement from Homeless Outreach
Mayor de Blasio has consistently exacerbated the unsheltered homelessness crisis by investing in law enforcement rather than housing and services. He created the failed and discontinued Subway Diversion Program that led to a 55% increase in street homelessness by deterring people from the subways, and he championed street sweeps, even during a pandemic when the CDC explicitly advised against it. By policing homeless New Yorkers rather than providing them with the support they ask for, he created a further divide between homeless New Yorkers and the services meant to support them. Removing law enforcement from homeless outreach programs is a necessary step in regaining trust, building relationships, and in working to locate acceptable housing options for our neighbors who are homeless.
Our plan
End street sweeps
Combat the targeting of homeless New Yorkers on the subways
Remove NYPD from combined homeless outreach and canvassing efforts
Listen to the experts
Street sweeps destroy trust between homeless outreach workers and homeless New Yorkers. We must end the practice of street sweeps, subway sweeps, and joint outreach efforts that center the NYPD.
Step 1
End street sweeps
Where we are
Under New York City law, so long as someone is not blocking a doorway or pedestrians, they do not need to move. However, caving to residents or businesses who want homeless New Yorkers out of sight, City agencies coordinate “street sweeps” to have people removed from the areas they feel safest, which is often where their case managers know to find them. Street sweeps are unsafe and destabilizing. Oftentimes during street sweeps, homeless New Yorkers have their belongings discarded by Sanitation. We’ve spoken to dozens of people who have lost everything from vital documents such as IDs and benefit cards, medical equipment, prescriptions, walkers, to irreplaceable family keepsakes, causing significant harm and often setting back any progress towards income and housing. Street sweeps can happen any time, including during the morning where people may be woken up and understandably frustrated, increasing the likelihood of an avoidable escalation. Despite the negative consequences of street sweeps, the usage of street sweeps has increased, and with that, the likelihood that homeless New Yorkers are criminalized rather than receiving services increases as well. According to data obtained via FOIL by the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center and published by CityLimits, street sweeps of homeless encampments increased 4x between 2016 and 2019. Despite the CDC advising against the continued usage of sweeps, the practice continued into the COVID-19 pandemic. Homeless New Yorkers thought they had made progress when the Homeless Outreach Unit of the NYPD was dissolved, but after a short break in street sweeps, the cruel and counterproductive practice picked up again.
Where we want to be
Elected officials must stand up to NIMBYists and stand against the usage of street sweeps by DSNY, DHS, and the NYPD. Rather than appeasing residents and businesses, the City should focus on the relative safety of those experiencing unsheltered homelessness, which includes allowing them to remain where they feel safest and ensuring their belongings are not thrown away. Ending the practice of street sweets will mitigate the harm done by the City to unsheltered New Yorkers. Further, street sweeps are expensive, and the funds would be better used by meeting homeless New Yorkers’ actual needs - housing.
Step 2
Combat the targeting of homeless New Yorkers on the subways
Where we are
Homeless New Yorkers are often already frustrated with outreach teams due to the slow and arduous process needed to secure permanent housing, and the involvement of law enforcement only makes engagements more frustrating. The presence of the NYPD often makes it even more difficult for outreach workers to do their jobs, as it makes homeless New Yorkers hesitant to engage with them. We saw the worst of this with the failed and discontinued Subway Diversion Program, which was pitched as a means to divert people from the criminal justice system, but only served as a “broken windows” tactic to empower law enforcement to target homeless New Yorkers even more. While Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo capitalize on the political moment presented by the COVID-19 pandemic to further police homeless New Yorkers on the subway, our most vulnerable neighbors are being driven further from the support they need. Subway homelessness decreased, but that led to a 55% year-over-year increase in street homelessness. With different outreach teams contracted for the streets and subways, forcing people from the subways to the streets, or vice versa, only serves to lengthen their homelessness as it can disrupt or end communications between homeless New Yorkers and their outreach workers. Further, we have seen and heard of countless instances where NYPD Transit officers abuse homeless New Yorkers, perhaps most starkly in the case of Joseph T, who was “punched and dragged” for taking up more than one seat.
Where we want to be
Elected officials should never support initiatives that put law enforcement on the frontlines of homeless outreach, and that premise absolutely extends to the subways. Moving forward, the right thing to do is to protect homeless New Yorkers on the subway while they work with their outreach teams to secure temporary or permanent housing by eliminating the NYPD’s role in homeless outreach. Until there is sufficient capacity and political will to provide all homeless New Yorkers safe and appropriate placements, the subways will continue to be a vital space for keeping people safe, and this includes removing NYPD from all homeless outreach efforts. In addition, elected officials should be vocal advocates of returning subway service to 24/7 and in ending the discriminatory rules permanently enacted in October 2020, which both have led to increased targeting of homeless New Yorkers by the NYPD under the guide of ‘rule enforcement’.
Step 3
Remove NYPD from combined homeless outreach and canvassing efforts
Where we are
The City and Mayor have repeatedly intertwined the work of homeless services and the NYPD. In many circumstances, homeless New Yorkers have even referred to all homeless outreach workers as the “outreach police” due to their proximity to the NYPD. Throughout all efforts like HOME-STAT, the Homeless Outreach Unit of the NYPD, the Street Homeless Joint Command Center, the coordination of street sweeps, the Subway Diversion Program, and the COVID-19 subway shutdown, Mayor de Blasio has repeatedly shown his misguided belief that the NYPD can be a leader in addressing homelessness. That premise is false, dangerous, and extremely counterproductive. The NYPD have long harassed homeless New Yorkers, including through the practice of enforcing “broken windows” policies by issuing summonses for quality-of-life infractions.
Where we want to be
The more the NYPD is involved with interacting with unsheltered New Yorkers, including with homeless outreach teams, and the more they are accompanying homeless outreach workers, the less likely homeless New Yorkers are to engage, and the more criminalization, incarceration, violence and harm will be inflicted on them. All elected officials must commit to a full separation of homeless outreach and the NYPD to ensure outreach teams can maintain the trust and communication necessary to move people into housing when it becomes available.