New solution to old problem
By building trust, police confront homelessness, not homeless people
It started with calls from Lomasney Avenue residents rattled by bonfires and inebriated people lying in the street.
Now four months after city police officers launched an extensive outreach campaign — which included trudging through thigh-deep snow for welfare checks — they’ve relocated an encampment of people living on the edge of Vale Park that had caused concerns in the neighborhood for months. But it took time.
While the numbers floated up and down, city police identified five regulars living in the wooded area off Eastern Avenue. Residents saw issues last summer, but city police didn’t start engaging in outreach until November. The arrival of newcomers threatened to further destabilize the environment.
“It became a rotating clubhouse,” said a neighborhood resident, who asked for anonymity for fear of being targeted for harassment.
Now three people who wanted housing have secured a place to live after a prolonged effort officials hailed as breaking new ground in community policing.
For months, Sgt. Nick Mannix gradually enlisted an expanding group of social service agencies, including the county Office of Community Services, Catholic Charities, City Mission and New Choices, among others.
Over time, an email chain grew to at least 100 respondents.
“The living situation was concerning as we were expecting snow; it was cold,” said Laura Combs, executive director of New Choices. “The goal was to see what folks needed and try to help them get those resources, including food and shelter.”
Instead of simply removing the occupants, police attempted to link them to resources, and outreach workers incrementally moved towards a solution.
“Every time we went in there, we brought a network of agencies with us,” Mannix said. “And as far as I know, nobody’s ever done anything like this.”
Numbers at the City Mission have been constant, but haven’t increased dramatically, said Mike Saccocio, president and CEO.
“We’ve been busy, but COVID has kept people hesitant about coming into shelters,” Saccocio said. “What we have done is increased outreach.”
Residents first sought a swift solution last summer, and an initial police visit resulted in the encampment simply moving deeper into the wooded area.
“They moved to be less visible,” said the resident. “Unfortunately, they were twice as noisy, so we knew where they were.”
Residents said quality-of-life issues were mounting in the quiet dead-end street off Eastern Avenue, including public intoxication, fire risks and people banging on doors asking for food.
“We were afraid it would keep getting bigger and bigger,” said a second resident.
But Mannix wanted to tailor an approach that didn’t simply lead to displacement and shift problems elsewhere.
The situation unfolded in a climate of intense scrutiny of policing, and as a consensus was emerging for police to ease away from responding to mental health calls, instead steering them to outside agencies whenever possible.
The encampment’s residents stuck it out for the winter. In order to solve one problem — securing housing — other things, including lack of identification, had to be addressed. One woman refused to leave without her cats.
Mannix returned often to help attack issues as they surfaced, even bringing people hot meals on Thanksgiving Day.
“That took months in and of itself to build up that trust,” Mannix said. “I’m glad we were able to get out there in front of it and spearhead it, but I think it’s the way departments have to go.”
And that’s why officials are irritated by rumors circulating that officers went in and forcibly cleared people out, chatter overshadowing what they called an innovative model.
“We did not throw anyone out and destroy everyone’s stuff,” said Lt. Ryan Macherone, who leads the city police department’s neighborhood engagement efforts with Mannix.
City Mayor Gary Mccarthy called the rumors “grossly distorted.”
“People were living in less than sanitary conditions,” Mccarthy said.
City police did, however, accompany a city work crew to the site when they escorted remaining occupants out and used a city truck to haul away the debris.
Few remnants remained on Tuesday except matted-down brush and trash bobbing in a drainage ditch.
Activist Jamaica Miles tracked down one of the former occupants, named Ann, late last month in downtown Schenectady and posted a clip on social media.
“Do you feel like the police are helping you?” Miles asked.
“There are some kind officers out there,” Ann said, adding, “I’ve ran into a couple that have really gone out of their way to check on me and help.”
But Ann also expressed frustration at difficulties homeless people face, including stigma, lack of outdoor water spigots, public bathrooms and places to charge their phones, and she called for more outreach workers.
Miles pressed Ann on whether police should be engaged in those efforts.
“They didn’t have to do it, but they did it anyways,” Ann said.
The relocation was conducted in conjunction with ongoing improvements to Vale Park designed to boost usage, including paring back the treeline near the Nott Terrace entrance.
Nearby permanent residents praised the outcome.
“This was not discriminatory against homeless people,” said the first resident. “This was about people causing problems in the neighborhood.”