Shelter dangers and Broken Windows policing can be tied to high rates of rearrests among New York City Homeless
How does a college-educated, Brooklyn native end up living in subsidized housing in the Bronx?
She went to prison. Rose Ford’s entire life was uprooted after spending eight years incarcerated.
“I had to win back my family. When you go to prison, you lose everything you love. You lose your house, your dog, your cat. You lose everything,” Ford said.
Ford is a formerly incarcerated woman in her 60s who describes how her life went off rails when she took a “wrong U-turn” in life.
“I made a mistake by doing drugs and alcohol. I got locked up in my late forties. I waited till an old age to play a jackass.”
After serving eight years and eight months, Ford was released with a placement at a halfway house and just enough resources to try to piece her life together. Like many transitional housing options, there are certain restrictions that candidates and residents must adhere to, to maintain their place. Unfortunately, Ford said her stint at the halfway house didn’t last long.
“I didn’t stay in the halfway house long because I had a couple a drinks. When you don’t follow the rules you get kicked out. Then I went into a shelter.”
Through the homeless shelter system, Ford was able to find stable housing within six months from release. It’s been about eight years since Ford returned to society and did not recidivate, meaning she did not return to prison.
Diana McHugh is the Director of Communications at the Women’s Prison Association, she says stable housing is essential in reducing recidivism rates.
“Finding safe, secure and stable permanent housing is essential in stabilizing formerly incarcerated individuals and helping them become self-sufficient, which is critical for successful reentry.”
There are some people who have a support system when they return home, but some, like Ford, have to acclimate by themselves end up homeless increasing their chances of rearrest.
A 2016 study published by the New York City Criminal Justice Agency shows a snapshot of an analysis done three years prior on how homelessness affects rearrest rates in New York City. To begin, researcher Richard Peterson, Ph.D and his team classified homeless status in three different categories: street homeless, shelter homeless and non-homeless. Street homeless means at the time of any arrest in 2013 a person reported being street homeless, even if at another time they reported a different status. Shelter homeless describes a person who reported being shelter homeless at the time of any arrest in 2013, but never street homeless. Non-homeless describes a person who never reported being homeless at the time of any arrest in 2013.
The study labels the people they studied as defendants and shows that defendants who ever held a status of being homeless during 2013 were arrested at higher rates than those who were non-homeless.
“About 60% of the street homeless were rearrested within one year, compared to 50% of the shelter homeless, and 29% of non-homeless defendants (Figure 2). The street homeless also had the highest rates of felony re-arrest (24%), followed by the shelter homeless (19%) and the non-homeless (13%). There were only small differences in the rates of re-arrest for a violent felony offense (VFO), which ranged between 5% and 6%.”
The report also highlights the fact that most homeless defendants were rearrested in the same borough and precinct where they were originally arrested — mostly in Manhattan.
Peterson said that many homeless typically stay in the same area of familiarity, but also opportunity.
“If you look at the precincts, particularly, there’s a lot of midtown south. Times Square, Macy’s, a lot of traffic and tourists. If you want to panhandle, that’s the place to do it.”
The report also analyzed predictors of re-arrest rates among street and shelter homeless individuals. The top three predictors of re-arrest were number of prior misdemeanors, age, and gender. Interestingly, the defendant’s race or ethnicity was least likely to predict their chances of rearrest.
Peterson said, once someone is homeless he doubts race or ethnicity matters in arrests.
“It’s more about what they’re doing. Where they’re doing it and how much they attract the attention of the police.”
Overall, homeless status predicted higher re-arrest rates for most types of charges. Street and shelter homeless defendants were rearrested at higher rates than non-homeless for “local law” offenses. These offenses include violations such as fare-beating, panhandling, park rules and health code violations. Other serious charges such as burglary and weapons charges had low rates of rearrests across all groups.
Peterson says the type of charge associated with the arrest shows more about policing tactics than actual crime among the homeless. A tactic similar to the controversial Broken Windows policing.
“The kinds of things homeless people get arrested for are the kinds of things most other people wouldn’t get arrested for. Taking up two seats on the subway because they’re laying down, or being in a park after dark.”
Something to note — shelter homeless defendants had higher rearrest rates for harm to persons. While not detailed in this report this could be related to reported dangers of living in homeless shelters. The New York Daily news states that thousands of homeless are in fear of “being beaten, robbed, or stabbed in a city shelter.”
The Department of Homeless Services’ 2017 financial report shows that the city is investing to rectify this issue. The department is allocating $20 million for “NYPD administered training for shelter security personnel and 78 new DHS peace officers to oversee security.”
As this report shows, there are many factors that can predict rearrest rates among both the homeless and non-homeless. But the main implication in reducing recidivism rates, as in Ford’s case, is the ability to find stable housing options.
