Take Part - A group of New York Police Department officers have adopted a new method they hope will curb homelessness—posting pictures of them online.
A Flickr page run by an NYPD union, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, contains upward of 300 photos of people sleeping on park benches, asking for spare change, and even urinating in public. Some captions contain a location, while others poke fun at those pictured, calling them “bums and trash” or “disgusting.” Many of those pictured appear to be trying to shield themselves from the unwanted attention by covering their faces or turning away from the photographer.
The purpose of the photos is to compile a report to hand off to government officials to demonstrate the uptick of “quality of life” offenses in New York City, according to a letter from union President Sergeant Ed Mullins.
Homelessness in New York City has reached a record high, with approximately 60,000 people sleeping in shelters nightly, according to a 2015 report for the Coalition for the Homeless. The rate of homelessness in New York has risen by almost 30 percent since 2007, with roughly 75 percent of the homeless population living in the city.
An August poll found that 53 percent of New York City voters disapproved of how de Blasio is handling homelessness and poverty, despite the fact that many experts attribute the current state of homelessness to Michael Bloomberg, de Blasio’s predecessor. Bloomberg’s strict policies included outlawing food donations to homeless shelters because the city can’t assess their nutritional value.
De Blasio’s approach to ending homelessness is a more sympathetic one, and aims to assist people who are homeless instead of criminalizing them. He recently proposed a $22 million mental health initiative. An affordable housing program is reportedly in the works for early next year.
2 comments:
The NYC Police Dept has always been a culture of corrupt, heartless, morons with badges ( I'm sure there have been a few decent human beings on the force but they are far outweighed by scumbags) The prevalence of organized crime in the greater NY metro area is directly attributable to the culture of lawlessness and corruption among the police and prosecutors there -- they criminalize and oppress the innocent and shield the true criminals. Teddy Roosevelt did what he could to clean up the corruption in that lawless excuse for a police dept but it was too little then and any reform will be too little today. Abolish the police and allow communities/neighborhoods to use the tax monies to elect their own constables.
Time to shutter the NYPD. Lock them all up and throw away the key. My hometown would be much safer.
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