Go to the homeless shelter, you may get arrested.

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/16125793.htm

Columbia police have arrested 21 homeless people on outstanding warrants in the city’s two winter shelters since they opened Nov. 17.

Because the city is running the shelters for the first time this year, the police officers who work there can check the sign-in sheets against a national database each day to nab suspected criminals.....

.....A list of charges was not available, but city officials say all suspects were facing misdemeanor charges like panhandling and public intoxication.


This really bothers me.

and throwing their asses in jail :sarcasm:

x(

Of course they're panhandling, and of course many of them have been intoxicated in public. What else can some of them do, and where else could they be intoxicated if they're homeless?
:wtf:

This is just going to drive people away from those shelters. The city will be able to report that the number of people in shelters is declining, and therefore the number of homeless is miraculously declining.

And more people are going to die in the cold.
:grr:

whether they stay on the streets freezing their butts off, or get clapped in jail on minor Dickensian charges, at least they're not in a shelter, right? :sarcasm: :grr:

A national homeless advocacy group keeps an annual list of the 10 meanest cities to the homeless. Look for Columbia to crack the Top 10 with a bullet. :puke:

So the message -- 'don't seek shelter' -- 'don't trust the system' -- sooooo thoughtful. Perhaps they should just kill them all when they walk through the door. How many Americans would agree with that? A third?

This issue is so unresolved. So backwards. And it is a measure of our civic intelligence.

:shrug:

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7 million people in prison. More than any other country in the world.

Several years ago I heard that the prisons actually make money (don't remember if it's Federal or State) for each imprisoned person. So it's actually a racket. That is opposed to countries like Canada that lose money when someone is imprisoned. (Don't have a link, I would have to look for it)

What more easy prey than the poor in Bush's America!:puke:

There *are* actual criminals who get into shelters.

Because of that and disease, shelters aren't that safe.

HOMES NOT SHELTERS!!

Thanks for posting this... being homeless myself, I get so very tired of being invisible.

Thanks!

I would never recommend one to anyone.

:applause:

My point, and I do have one :), is that there is that element, and shelters are dangerous.

Also, per your lack of recommendation, homeless people have 11 times the incidence of TB as non-homeless people.

Again--thank you for understanding that. We homeless people get so sick of the ignorance!

in America.

:eyes:

:hi: :applause: :hi:

Should homeless shelters give police private information about those seeking help to check for fugitives?

Yes
80 votes (74%)
No
28 votes (26%)


108 people have voted so far Discuss this poll

Your vote was No on 11/30/2006 7:48 pm

Of course this is South Carolina. The percentage tells the story.

men and women?

You see, it isn't that easy.

Panhandling and public intoxication, the kinds of things that destitute people do.

about asking if police should have access....

You see, there is also the issue of protecting vulnerable people who are seeking shelter.

It's really a tough question.

But, I certainly agree that going after people for petty, no-victim crimes is a waste of time in that instance.

On the other hand, should Cheney ever show up in a shelter...

:evilgrin:

to the others, that person should be removed (speaking as someone who has spent a few nights in homeless shelters)

The better question might be, is there an epidemic of rapes in shelters that justifies the police at every one? There might be, but that wouldn't have much to do with what is going on here. And to ask another extreme question: should a rapist who did his time be forced outside to freeze to death?

edit typo

:toast:

One should not have anything to do with the other.

If the laws are too strict then they should be changed. If the laws are being bent to punish the destitute for being destitute then they should be changed.

Why not? Get their warrants over with, which is not to condone their original tickets. Are the homeless surrendering their 5th Amendment rights when they sign their names? That could be another question.

This sounds a LOT like his kind of war on poverty...

and there will be more room in the shelters for non-criminals, and those people will be safer

Maybe its just me, but I don't think loiterers, panhandlers, and public drunkenness offenders should be considered dangerous criminals. I don't think they belong locked up with dangerous criminals either.

I think what my city is doing is making homelessness a de facto crime. I believe that the powers that be here want to bring back the poor house, but use the jails for it.

It sounds almost Dickensian to me.

Can debtors prison be far behind? Maybe that's what the "camps" will be for. There's going to be a lot of debtors when the economy collapses, right?

around. If jobs were available, the ranks of the homeless naturally would be less. It would also reduce the panhandling and minor theft crimes. We of course will always have a certain amount of our society who are not willing to work, but we should as a society take care of them.

When Ohio changed it's welfare laws, I predicted an increase in crime rates. Those that will not work, will steal more when their check has been reduced or stopped. I haven't seen a study regarding this, but it sure seems like crime rates have dramatically risen since. Given the current poor economy, I would guess some of the thefts are occurring from people who would otherwise be working. There have been a few robberies recently featured on the news in which the robber was caught on tape. They didn't appear to be your every day criminals. Of course, you cannot judge a book by it's cover, but I am willing to bet there are people out there who are stealing to feed their families.

Ted Strickland and crew have a lot of work to do in Ohio. And, they have a great plan to overcome many problems within the state. Very glad we finally have a chance to turnaround Ohio!

That tells me right there what your frame of reference is.

More right than left.

:puke:

What? You think this is the 1930's and the homeless are just a bunch of happy hobos? That line of reasoning wasn't true even then.

Did it ever occur to you that a good many homeless people CAN'T work? Did it ever occur to you that getting a person into their own home or apartment isn't just a matter of getting a job? Did you know that most times, in order to get a job, you have to have a home to begin with?

Here's an experiment. Put on your oldest clothes. Empty your pockets of all money and identification. Have a friend drop you off downtown. Now...go! Get a job.

Can't you just claim to have no ID and give a fake name? Problem solved.

I've just moved back here from Los Angeles, so I don't really know the issue very well, but go to The State newspaper forum and read some of the comments there. Buncha nazi pugs round here, for sure. They're all POed that the city's new shelter is located near the city's chi chi yuppie shop/pub crawl area (the Vista).

I don't really have a comment, as I said, I don't know the issue, but this place is infested with young republican types, as well as the old style racist, religious fascist types. This election, where the rest of the country saw huge gains for our party, there was absolutely infinitesimal change if any at all. The Democratic party is moribund here. Sigh....

I know how you feel - I hate seeing the Bush/Cheney bumper stickers still.

I have a small theory about the abundance of young republicans in the area. The Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina Columbia is getting quite the reputation as a very good business school.

Republicans are drawn to business schools, yes?

The older ones - like my family members - have been here forever and they vote republican because they are racists.

:)