In This Corner… Sheriff Baca, In That Corner… Chief Bratton

The homeless “dumping” saga continues… Now we continue on the “finger pointing” stage, where the top law enforcement chiefs in Los Angeles are dueling it out over which solution to homelessness is the best. Here is the L.A. Times article about this.

In this corner is Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca, who claims that the Sheriff’s Department is the largest homeless mentally ill service provider in the country. He states that our community needs to provide more services, otherwise his department becomes the default service provider for the homeless.

The Los Angeles Times writes, “When Sheriff Lee Baca talks about his goal of ending homelessness in Los Angeles County, he sounds more like an idealistic social worker than the head of the largest sheriff's department in the country.”

I was on Sheriff Baca’s Caucus For The Homeless Task Force, and am convinced that his motives to help the homeless of the streets are pure.

Then there is Los Angeles Police Department Chief William Bratton who adopts a more “tougher stance.” Street sweeps to root out “aberrant behavior” is the mode of operation.

The Times writes about Bratton, “Long an advocate of the ‘broken windows’ method of policing, which holds that punishing lesser offenses leads to reductions in major crimes, Bratton targeted downtown's skid row as one of five proving grounds in the city for the theory.”

I wrote about the “broken windows” theory in my book, “How To Increase Homelessness.” Here’s an excerpt from the chapter, “The Homeless Outlaw”:
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Deal with the homeless problem through stronger police action, and we’re back to the future—the 1950’s become today. A mom and a dad with 2.5 children living behind a white picket fenced post-World War Two suburban home. But certainly no homeless people sporting tattered cardboard signs at street corners. If only it was as simple as Michael J. Fox driving a souped-up Delorean back to the future. And our dreams would come true.

Unfortunately, the 2000’s are not the 1950’s. And unfortunately, law enforcement on their own, cannot solve this terrible community dilemma of people sleeping on the streets. Undoubtedly, law enforcement must be one important piece of the solution pie, they just can’t be the whole pie.
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So who is right? More services so that law enforcement doesn’t become the default service provider? Or a tougher stand by fixing every “broken window” in the neighborhood in order to prevent hardcore crime?

I think they are both correct. Provide more services and shelter for the homeless, so the police can do their job of fighting crime.