Criminals Hide behind the Homeless
Letter to the Editor

Criminals Hide behind the Homeless

We must have compassion for those in need and help those who have fallen through the cracks. However, calling everyone out on the streets homeless is a disservice to those truly in need.

Homeless man. Photo by award-winning street photographer Marc Schmidt.

We have a limited pool of resources available. Organizations like Camillus House, Chapman Partnership and the Homeless Trust have combined annual budgets of well over $75 million dollars, and they work hard to help the homeless off the street. But providing more beds and shelters alone, unfortunately, will not fix the current situation. Providing free food at 15 corners around Downtown in the middle of the night or providing a half million dollar toilet in front of the Government Center will not solve the problem.

An important step toward solving this problem is differentiating the truly homeless from criminals, drug users and the mentally ill. Every day we see around the neighborhood very aggressive panhandlers and witness crimes against residents, workers, and tourists, some of the crimes are quite violent, and drug/alcohol overdoses. Also, a significant number of individuals with mental illness wander around causing property damage or attacking people. Criminality and vagrancy sometimes seem out of control.

There are over 50 community-based organizations that currently support the Downtown street population, and not much of an effort is made to differentiate who they are supporting. Let’s help the elderly woman who is losing her home, let’s help a single woman with a child on the street, a battered spouse, and let’s help the wounded veteran. But, why enable people using meth/flaka/heroin? Why do we enable sexual predators to hide near downtown residents? Why do we support opportunistic panhandlers that drive to downtown in their cars and then get into a fake wheelchair for panhandling?

Downtown Miami is a magnet for all types of people, including those pretending to be homeless, and those who are given a one-way ticket from up north to come winter in our streets. Vagrants and criminals take advantage of people’s kindness, the generosity of tourists, students, office workers, residents, and support organizations, and take resources away from people really in need. The police should not be encouraged to look the other way while vagrants and criminals destroy Downtown.

We could help improve the quality of life for more homeless people if we openly discussed separating the criminal element from people in need. Political correctness has a price, and paying it are those who must need help.

Jorge Sanchez is a member of the HOA Board at the Loft 2.

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['Homeless', 'Vagrant', 'Crime', 'Homelessness', 'Miami']