Street Roots • Dec. 21-27, 2018
Page 3
O p in io n
City’s new police liaison must put streets first
wo vendors leaned on the garbage can outside
fall, «hows us how violence and health struggles -
our office^ a cloth spread over its lid like a
from substance use to depression to cancer - are
tablecloth as they organized items from their
aggravated by living on the streets. Those streets
pockets. They were discussing the announcement took 79 lives last year. They’re, on track to take as
that the Portland Police Bureau is hiring a homeless
many again by year’s end.
community liaison, which we cover in this issue.
Police need to learn from unhoused communities
. They spoke of distrust of the police, and joked
what Can be done so they can be safer and heard.
with me about the word liaison - where does that
One of our vendors, C.W„ described how his situation
second “i* land? - as one of them jotted the position
illustrated a lack of both: he was nearly killed when
title on a scrap of paper. The woman suggested that
he was assaulted and robbed in his sleep, and then
police have a lost and found.
he could not secure a police response. Again and
People often describe how
again, people walk through our doors with bruises,
their backpacks “grew legs” in
gashes and worse, beat-up and robbed in the night.
the night, a bit of levity to
Violence is recurring and it’s hard to get justice. And
describe turmoil: For people
our reports have shown how life is especially perilous
who have little, their
for women on the streets.
possessions are too often
In order to advocate to the police about how to
stolen from their bodies when
help unhoused people be safer, this liaison must be
they sleep.
entrenched in the culture of homeless folks, not the
It’s important to remember that the two sides
culture of police. Because one thing we can say loud
needing this liaison — this link — are not equal. There
and clear at Street Roots - there is no accurate
is a power imbalance. The effort needs to go toward
stereotype of a homeless person.
'listening'to and representing unhoused communities.
At Street Roots we are privy to something special
People on the streets have reason to fear
- knowing the diversity of vibrant human beings who
interactions with the police. The Oregonian reported
live unhoused. Yesterday, a woman dabbed on her
that 52 percent of all arrests last year targeted
mascara as she cheerfully chatted. A woman in a
unhoused people. Street Roots consistently covers
wheelchair told me her favorite color is blue. A man
aspects of this high rate óf criminalization. We’ve
who cusses as easily as he breathes was also,
covered how homelessness itself is criminalized,
simultaneously, courteous and
which ACLU of Oregon has
sweet. Teasing rippled around the
studied. The Western Regional
office. Vendors bantered with the
I f At its best, the
Advocacy Coalition - which
vendor program coordinator about
Street Roots belongs to with
which Arizona college sports team
liaison can improve...
Sisters of the Road and Right 2
is "super ion A longtim evendor
■
K a ia S q n d is th e
executive director of_
Street Roots. You can
reach her at .,£
kaia@streetroots.org.
Follow her on
Twitter @mkaiasand
'Slirvive ^continues to address
thi^w táie development of a-- 4
Homeless Bill o,f Rights.
interactions when ,
poljc3^riS Q .unter'
; •
I people-' óñ Ih e fr stre&IS;
■ B S im prove their
introduced, to m e to a new vendor,
[ h is n e i g h b o r - t h e i r t e n t s s it
adjacent in inner southeast.
Substance use and mental
And all óf yóu áre privy to this
illness are too often tangled up
too through your relationships
in situations that result in
with Street Roots’ vendors. Qpen
arrests - * from possession
our centerfold in this issue to see
.responses when,
charges to disorderly conduct -
a gloriously diverse smattering of
.-unhoused
people-
rather than addressed through
gratitudes. People give thanks for
the realm of public health.
life, for an RV, for customers,
.'need them . But w e .
People experiencing
dental floss, autumn colors.
homelessness report feeling
need to deroo uple
Coffee.
targeted for how they look, such
So .if this liaison can train police
police
w
o
rk
from
as our vendor who rushed into
to better know the humanity of
non-crim
inal
m
atters
I
our office recently, brimming
people on the streets, that’s an
with frustration as he described
accomplishment What this not be
around
hom
elessness;
getting ticketed for jaywalking.
¿ is an extension of the bureau as a
Other people who did not appear
public relations exercise.
homeless were also jaywalking,
This liaison position cannot become another way
he said, and they were not ticketed. He calmed down
to police homeless people, but a way to better
once he was able to vent and be heard, but there was
support them, so it is promising that this is not a
still the issue of the ticket, which he could never
badged position. At its best, the liaison can improve
afford to pay.
interactions when police encounter people on their
We recently ran a series on how court fines and ;
fees disproportionately affect the poor. A ticket that a streets, and improve their responses when unhoused
people need them. But we need to de-couple police
middle-class person might pay without much thought
work
from non-criminal matters around
can catapult a poor person into years of turmoil when
homelessness.
the unpaid traffic ticket leads to rapidly escalating
This means that we must bolster the extraordinary
fees. This, Emily Green showed in her investigation,
work that nonprofit and peer outreach workers do
can lead to the lossof a driver’s license or even
before emergencies arise. As we report in this issue,
vehicle impoundment - all paralleling one’s plummet
these positions are too few and underpaid - but well-
further into poverty and homelessness.
worth a community investment
I’ve argued the system structures antagonism —
And we need a system-wide emergency outreach
such as people calling 911 on unhoused people for
for non-criminal matters. As we argued in a recent
non-criminal matters or reporting campsites through
editorial, CHIERS and Project Respond all offer
the city’s One Point of Contact System - rather than
portions, as does the Portland Fire and Rescue’s I
constructive responses. We must make it easier for
Community Health Assessment Team, or CHAT, and
neighbors to be constructive.
we suggest that our city study the Eugene model of
Street Roots won’t let up on this coverage. We’re
CAHOOTS, which dispatches medic and a crisis .
determined to not just despair, but analyze and solve.
worker for mental health emergencies.
Today, Friday, Dec. 21, is Homeless Persons
Ultimately, people who are homeless need to be
Memorial Day. The Domicile Unknown report, which
policed less and supported more.
Street Roots released with Multnomah County this
Street Roots .
Portland, OR 97209
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S ta ff
Executive Director Kaia Sand
kaia@streetroots.org
Executive Editor Joanne ZuhI
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S en io r S ta ff R e p o rte r Emily Green
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