Opinion: solving the problem of the homeless in New York is simple, you need to use the experience of Giuliani

Subway pushing and brutal homeless attacks on people across the city made headlines and angered New Yorkers. Most of all, it is outrageous that all this can be prevented. Previously, the city authorities knew how to protect the public, but now they have stopped using previously working plans, writes NYPost.

In a column for the Post in 2015, former city mayor Rudy Giuliani explained his approach to homeless people sleeping in public. In his words, the plan "combined sympathy and tough but fair love."

“It is always better for the police officer to be accompanied by a social worker (as is often the case) to explain to the homeless person that coming for a medical examination is better than wandering around all night, because if the person refuses to go to the doctors, they will be followed and no longer will be allowed to sleep on the street, ”wrote the former mayor of New York, implying medical examinations of homeless people in shelters.

In short, the city government, with the help of police and social workers, encouraged homeless people to go to city shelters, making it clear to those who refused the shelter that they could not stay on the street, on a park bench or in the subway.

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Giuliani's team knew that luring people from the street into the shelter was not an easy task, it required a strong determination. But his top priority has always been public safety and order, an approach that was largely supported during Mayor Bloomberg's years.

By contrast, Mayor Bill de Blasio and his fellow progressives in the city council and state legislature prioritize addressing the success of Giuliani's “brutal” measures: if a homeless person these days does not leave his chosen house, refusing to go to the shelter, the police often you have to shrug your shoulders and just move on. And the resources and powers of social workers are limited, that is, without the support of the police, they can do little, therefore they often and rightly refuse to take risks when dealing with seemingly dangerous cases.

And even when the mentally ill end up in a city shelter, they rarely receive treatment there, since settlement there is now carried out according to the "no questions asked" rule, and the homeless person insists that the real problem is simply the lack of housing and society's refusal to fully recognize the "rights" of the homeless. refusing to even discuss their possible mental deviations.

Now a new crisis has come for many reasons: with the onset of the pandemic, the mayor "out of compassion" released thousands of mentally ill prisoners. And when he decided to cut the NYPD budget by $ 1 billion in response to protests and calls to cut cop funding, the homeless department took the hit. This has left hundreds of homeless people without social security and psychological support.

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According to Nolan Hicks of The Post, "almost 2500 complaints to number 311 about homeless people desperate for help or causing trouble have been closed without any action from police officers who no longer have authority." But when calls to 311 about problem homeless people are not answered in a timely and effective manner, the consequences can be tragic - as in the case of Michael Medlock, who pushed a man onto the tracks at a subway station last November.

Some people stop calling 311 or resort to 911 while taking the emergency line with calls that are not related to an emergency.

Likewise, the case of shelter resident Alexander Wright, who was suspected of punching an Asian woman in Chinatown in May this year, went unnoticed, although he had committed bizarre and violent acts before. But this is just one of many cases.

Bottom line: it is important for the city to be willing and willing (!) To use all available tools to coerce homeless people with serious mental illness into treatment. Significantly, there is now a tool that was not available for most of Giuliani's tenure: Kendra's Law, passed in 1999 following a subway shock that led to death. It allowed judges and doctors to issue hospitalization orders for untreated people who were clearly dangerous to themselves and others, and to enforce prescription drug use up to outpatient hospitalization, if necessary. The application of the law has proven effective in reducing relapse, preventing violence and, most importantly, helping sick people.

But de Blasio, unfortunately, refers to the fact that his wife's initiative to help the homeless ThriveNYC is a real solution to the problem, despite the notorious lack of results from this initiative.

If desired, the city can repeat the success of Giuliani and achieve more: not only remove dangerous homeless from the streets, but also provide them with the necessary assistance. Although some orphanages are still in poor condition, conditions are much better than they were in Giuliani's time. In particular, much more support is offered for people with serious mental illness.

It is time to return to the schemes of working with the homeless that were used earlier, since they were more fair both in relation to these people in need and to society as a whole.