Essay About Homelessness

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The police face many different issues while out on patrol every day. One issue is that of the homeless. In many cities, homelessness has been criminalized, but we, as a society, have to question if this is the right thing to do. Should people who have the misfortune of being homeless be punished further?
While everyone has some preconceived notions about the homeless, there have been studies to determine certain characteristics. Some of the more common myths about the homeless are that they are lazy, uneducated, criminals, and that they chose their life. According to the National Homeless website, 85% of the homeless are individuals, and nearly one third are under the age of 24. At the time of the study, January 2013, there were nearly 58,000 …show more content…

Instead, they exacerbate the problem,” which is exactly true. One of the main reasons for homelessness is an economic crisis. During the recession of 2008 many cities saw an increase in the number of homeless individuals, with over 300,000 people being evicted (City Mayors). According to City Mayors, during the recession, of twenty-five cities being studied, nineteen of them had a rise in the numbers of homeless. The issue with sudden increases is that the cities have no way to handle the new influx of people. In 2011, the poverty rate for the United State was at 15%, meaning there were over 46 million people in poverty (National Homeless). While being in poverty does not mean that the person is going to become homeless, it greatly increases the chances of becoming homeless in the future, because any unexpected incident could push them over the edge. When people get pushed to this extreme, housing costs are often the first major things to be cut out of the budget, forcing an even greater number out onto the …show more content…

According to the FBI, police get many calls about quality of life crimes related to the homeless. Related calls can range from littering and public urination to public intoxication and possible mental illness. Police have to respond to these calls, prohibiting officers from being able to respond to more important calls, using valuable resources. When officers must arrest, it does not benefit anyone either, since it does not help the individuals situation. If the homeless individuals are fined, it also does nothing to help them or society, since they have no way of being able to pay, or change the conditions that they are

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