Cops lend homeless a helping hand
CITY HALL — Instead of just locking up the city’s homeless, the Santa Monica Police Department has made a commitment to helping the down-and-out access the services they need to get off the streets and stay out of jail.
In a report prepared at the request of the City Council, Capt. Mike Smiley, head of the SMPD’s office of operations, which includes all uniformed patrol officers and park rangers, said officers are collaborating with homeless service providers like never before, resulting in fewer repeat offenders being recycled through the city’s jail.
The budding working relationship between the SMPD and city staff and homeless services providers has also helped officers in identifying homeless people who have witnessed a crime or have been victims of a crime, which allows officers to put the most dangerous offenders behind bars, Smiley said.
Officers have also assisted the family members of homeless people here find their loved ones, boosting morale, all because of the connection officers now have with service providers, Smiley said.
“We have never worked more closely with our service providers and that is extremely important (because) we feel we are a big partner in this,”Smiley said.“We have developed an effective working relationship, which openly focuses on providing public safety first and then connecting our homeless population with our service providers.”
Council members commended the SMPD for the work it has done in the last year and a half,helping more than 230 people arrested for being under the influence of drugs or alcohol access treatment and counseling provided by the CLARE Foundation as part of the city’s Serial Inebriate Outreach Program, or SIOP, which helps those suffering from addiction.
“Thank you for the sensitivity you (the SMPD) are exhibiting,” Councilman Kevin McKeown told Smiley on Tuesday, following the captain’s report to the council. “That is exactly what I think this community has wanted. Focusing on anti-social behavior is appropriate, but at the same time, I think we recognize that being homeless is not a crime and alcohol and drug abuse are diseases that need treatment.You are helping people find what they need.
“CLARE has always been a great resource for us, but we are making much more effective use of it now (with SIOP),” McKeown said.
Since SIOP was created in July of 2005, SMPD officers have arrested 842 people, Smiley said. An estimated 60 percent of those were homeless, and several were repeat offenders.
Of that total, 234 have been contacted by CLARE, 27 have been released from SMPD custody to CLARE, and 75 have sought help on their own following their release from jail, Smiley said. Everyone arrested for public intoxication is given a CLARE referral card.
Of the 75 who sought CLARE’s help on their own, only two have been arrested again for public intoxication or other related offenses, said Mona Miyasato, acting Human Services director for City Hall.
Councilman Richard Bloom asked Smiley to come back to the council with more information on how many of those who were referred to CLARE were homeless, so that the council could more effectively determine how SIOP was impacting the homeless population.
According to Smiley, officers feel SIOP is a valuable resource.
“We support it,” he said.“We love the fact there is a counselor there ready to assist our officers. I’d say the program’s been a success.”
Another success has been the work of the Homeless Liaison Project (HeLP), a group of officers specially trained to work with the homeless. The SMPD has six, full time HeLP officers who work in conjunction with 16 park rangers and uniformed officers.
In the last three months, Smiley said the HeLP team, along with other officers, conducted 36 outreach efforts focusing on public safety and quality of life crimes, sometimes called nuisance crimes.
During that time, more than 700 homeless were contacted and 200 arrests were made for crimes including probation violation, failure to register as a sex offender, drug possession, open container violation, urinating in public, camping, sleeping in doorways and public intoxication, Smiley said.
The outreach also assisted juveniles who had run away from home be reconnected with their families or access other services.
The HeLP team has conducted outreach efforts to local businesses as well and to social service providers. The SMPD has also increased enforcement along the Palisades bluffs, Third Street Promenade and additional business districts.
SMPD is looking to add four more park rangers shortly, bringing the total to 20, Smiley said. Park rangers are often the ones who have the most contact with the homeless because they patrol the parks where many of the down-and-out sleep or congregate during the day.
Smiley said the SMPD will also continue working with former Los Angeles County Supervisor Ed Edelman, City Hall’s homeless czar, on establishing a community court to handle some of the minor, quality-of-life crimes.
“It has been challenging for us, having to work extensively with city staff and the service providers, getting to know all of our partners,” Smiley said.“But I think the benefits are clear.”
Lisa Fisher, director of the Westside Shelter & Hunger Coalition, which represents the city’s service providers and participates in monthly meetings with the SMPD, said she agrees with Smiley in recognizing the new relationship between officers and service providers. However, Fisher said more work needs to be done on all sides to continue progressing.
“The relationship we now have has made it a much smoother process,” Fisher said. “The police know who we are and who to reach out to at various agencies and we have a better understanding of what officers must go through and how we can better assist them. I think this is a great first step.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 16, 2006. Read the original PDF.