MAYOR MUST LEARN FROM POLICIES THAT BACKFIRED
How did San Diego’s homeless situation get so bad so fast? There are many reasons, but at least one was sadly predictable. Todd Gloria ran for mayor in 2020 on a platform of deemphasizing much-needed homeless shelters, saying that police were criminalizing homelessness, and that he as mayor would take a different approach. Gloria did take a different approach — and the homeless situation has significantly worsened.
Gloria was wrong when he accused the police of criminalizing homelessness. Officers intervene to protect the health, safety and welfare of homeless individuals and safeguard San Diegans from becoming victims of crimes. Horrible things happen in homeless encampments, including violent attacks, extortion, sexual assault, human trafficking, drug use and even murder.
One of the last policy decisions I made before I retired as chief of police in 2018 was to create a neighborhood policing division to ensure homelessness outreach and enforcement of the law were consistent across the city. Neighborhood policing officers do miraculous work. They were responsible for referring more homeless to shelter — more than all the other outreach organizations combined during Operation Shelter to Home. The division’s approach worked because homeless individuals knew there would be consistent rules, and consequences when those rules were not followed. Many homeless people suffer from severe drug addiction, mental health issues and other major ailments.
Addicts can do irrational and incomprehensible things chasing their addictions. Holding a steady job, paying bills and maintaining a home are nowhere on their priority list. No doubt homeless lives were saved because of neighborhood policing officers’ intervention and tough love approach. How demoralizing it must be to hard-working officers when told this approach was wrong. We must stop allowing people to use illegal narcotics on our streets. Our best defense is our police. Cops have the legal authority to place people under arrest, and literally remove the needle from their arms or the pipe from their mouths. Officers are the only ones who can judicially intervene and stop the behaviors San Diegans are concerned about.
We have seen what happens when you remove police from the equation or tie their hands. I am all for having social workers doing social work and police doing police work. But each has an important role in improving our homeless crisis. Cops play a critical part in leading homeless individuals off the road to self-destruction. Social workers represent the gateway to supportive services. We have seen how effective they can be when these important partners work closely with our homeless outreach team. The cops don’t have to be the front line, but they must be the bottom line. They are essential in addressing our homeless crisis. Too many people have died. Too many San Diegans have dealt with these deplorable conditions.
It’s time we take a stand and back our cops’ efforts as part of the solution. Gloria is now talking about ramping up available shelter and enforcement — good! He should have continued and expanded this work on his first day in office instead of walking back progress. But implementation is key. Last year he promised to remove tents during the day and there are now more than ever blocking our sidewalks. Let’s watch closely and monitor his latest promises.
Zimmerman is a former San Diego chief of police who retired in 2018 after 35 years with the San Diego Police Department.