Southern California Struggles to Curb Criminalization of Homelessness

Rohit Varma
Sep 4, 2018 · 4 min read

Homelessness is not illegal, yet several policies resulted in its criminalization. For example, sleeping in a vehicle parked on a street or pitching a tent on public property may be punishable by law in many U.S. cities, yet people experiencing homelessness often do both because they have no other shelter. While these laws are meant to keep communities safe, in practice they serve to keep people experiencing homelessness on the move without addressing the underlying issue of lack of shelterfor this population.

One jurisdiction where the criminalization of homelessness is especially contentious is San Diego, where some advocates have accused local law enforcement of increasing arrests. While the city’s police captain recognizes incarceration is not a viable solution to end homelessness, he also believes citations and arrests can spur people to change their behavior. Recently, San Diego introduced a homeless outreach team, which focuses specifically on quality-of-life crimes, many of which involve people experiencing homelessness.

The Complicated Link between Homelessness and Incarceration

Whether people are spurred to change behaviors because of law enforcement remains unclear. Many individuals end up getting stuck in the justice system. A study by the Prison Policy Initiative found that people who have been incarcerated are 10 times more likely to experience homelessness than the general public, which means they may get stuck in a cycle of ending up on the street, getting arrested, serving time, and then becoming homeless once again. The report shows that more than 2 percent of people who have been incarcerated are homeless, and about 4 percent live in precarious situations that put them at risk of homelessness.

Part of the issue is landlords can legally refuse housing to people with criminal records, even after they have served their sentences, which provides fewer housing options for people released from jail or prison. The situation becomes more complicated when the link between homelessness and mental illness is considered; researchers from a Colorado study confirmed about 65 percent of inmates who were formerly homeless also reported mental illness, compared to about 46 percent of inmates who had not experienced homelessness. The finding is closely linked to substance abuse, which often serves as a form of self-medication. About half of the inmates who had experienced homelessness reported a substance use disorder, compared to around one-third of inmates who had not been homeless.

The Questionable Effectiveness of Homeless Outreach Teams

To break the cycle of incarceration among people experiencing homelessness, many cities around San Diego have established their own law enforcement outreach teams to address homelessness. In addition, the District Attorney dismissed some charges against people who now live in shelters and actively participate in homelessness programming. Despite these steps to curb the criminalization of homelessness, many cities in Southern California, including San Diego, continue to enforce laws that punish homelessness.

San Diego recently made a number of citations and arrests related to a law against encroaching on public walkways with personal possessions. Last year, encroachment violations in San Diego averaged about 200 citations and 30 arrests each month. A police department representative said these steps are taken after a police officer issues a warning. The law doesn’t take into account that the person experiencing homelessness may not have anywhere to store belongings. One man who lived on the streets of San Diego reported the only option for many people was to move from areas with homeless communities to other neighborhoods with less of a police presence — but this often means moving away from services. Another person who experienced homelessness in San Diego reported no warnings before being arrested.

The Growing Problem and a Novel Proposal in Los Angeles

According to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, between 2006 and 2015, a study of 187 cities across the nation reported citywide camping bans increased by 69 percent. During the same period, bans on loitering and vagrancy increased 88 percent and laws against living in vehicles increased 143 percent. These numbers are part of the reasons cities such as San Diego worked to increase homeless outreach among law enforcement departments. These steps may not be enough considering the high rate of arrests and the pressure put on courts, jails and prisons — especially when more comprehensive solutions may exist.

Los Angeles is another city with high levels of incarceration because of the criminalization of homelessness. While the Los Angeles chief of police said the police force will not shift its approach to quality-of-life crimes, he did offer a unique solution for moving some people experiencing homelessness out of the judicial system. He proposed offering amnesty to people experiencing homelessness who have bench warrants for failing to appear in court, provided the court date was for a minor offense. Again, this approach does not address the root causes of homelessness, but it has the potential to reduce the number of people experiencing homelessness who become entangled in the justice system.

Rohit Varma

Written by

Rohit Varma, MD, MPH, is an internationally recognized opthalmologist and researcher who focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma.

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