News spurs shelter probe
AN UPCOMING City Council hearing will take a hard look at the hidden violence exploding in city-run homeless shelters exposed by an ongoing Daily News investigation.
Councilman Stephen Levin (D-Brooklyn), chairman of the General Welfare Committee, says that at a June 21 hearing on shelter contracts he will grill city officials on The News’ revelation that the Homeless Services Department has covered up hundreds of arrests inside shelters.
And he’ll explore The News’ documentation of problems with private security firms, including a November incident in which several guards were caught on video beating and kicking a resident of a Brooklyn shelter.
“The recently released Daily News shelter video footage is deeply upsetting,” Levin said. “Assault at the hands of security guards is unacceptable. We have a responsibility to ensure all of our shelters are welcoming and safe.”
Levin’s inquiry follows the city Department of Investigation’s decision to look into why Homeless Services didn’t notify it of the beating incident, which took place Nov. 29 at the Pamoja men’s shelter in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
In the video, guards can be seen punching shelter resident Alexander Singh, 25, then kicking and stomping him as he lay prone on the floor. Two other shelter residents also beat Singh while security guards and a supervisor did nothing to intervene.
The guards and supervisor all work for a private firm that provides security at shelters across the city. The firm and others like it are not hired by the city but by the nonprofit groups that run these shelters. The News found the two top firms have been sued 21 times in the past three years over allowing or facilitating incidents of violence in city-run shelters.
Levin said the repeat allegations of abuse make clear that there’s a gap in oversight and a lack of transparency that needs to be remedied.
“These allegations show the importance of comprehensive and appropriate training, adequate staff ratios and resources, and social services to building safe environments,” he said. “These components need to be front and center in the contracting process. Unfortunately, serious gaps in information have left us with more questions than answers.”