Police officers in New York may be banned from dealing with homeless

Under a new bill submitted to the New York City Council, police officers will be prohibited from doing any work with the homeless. The edition writes about it New York Post.

Under a new bill presented to the City Council, police officers in New York will be prohibited from doing any work with the homeless in the city. Hindering the work of police officers defending municipal workers, especially in the midst of a pandemic, is something that police unions and the city's mayor Bill de Blasio have opposed, but the bill did not stop.

“Homelessness on the street or on the subway is not a crime,” board member Stephen Levin insisted during a December 14 welfare committee hearing. "I hope this bill will provide less harm by limiting police involvement in these interactions."

Levine, representing regions such as Downtown Brooklyn and Williamsburg, co-sponsored the bill with councilor Helen Rosenthal, a Democrat representing the Upper West Side.

"Any government agency's appeal to the homeless should not include any police involvement and should be limited to the work of the department's staff or employees contracted with the department to contact the homeless and offer them services," the bill says.

The bill is a follow-up to actions taken in July, when New York City Council passed its fiscal 2021 budget. Then the Police Department's budget was cut by $ 1 billion. The city also canceled the planned recruitment of about 1160 employees, and stripped police officers of functions such as monitoring illegal trade, homelessness on the streets and safety in schools.

On the subject: Homeless on the streets of New York: the extent and causes of the problem

In June, the final month of the Homeless Section, NYPD closed 79 calls without action for homeless people who needed help or were causing trouble. That number skyrocketed to 437 in July and has remained three-digit since then, as police officers were freed from working with the homeless.

Homeless advocacy groups, the de Blasio administration and the NYPD union said on Monday that the bill goes too far and creates problems for the city.

“We are committed to making homeless groups the primary point of contact with them,” said Catherine Trapani, executive director of Homeless Services United.

“This administration has made tremendous progress in transforming our approach to working with the homeless,” said New York City Hall spokeswoman Avery Cohen. “However, we have serious concerns about any bill that would explicitly prohibit an outreach worker from contacting a homeless person in the presence of a police officer, even in certain limited circumstances.”

Pat Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association, asked if Levin had any other suggestions to remedy the city's homelessness crisis.

“The first big winter storm is about to hit us, and we have nearly 4 New Yorkers sleeping in the streets,” Lynch said. "What plan does Levin have to help them, other than tell the cops they can't help?"