The authors of this article examine whether police officers interact differently to homeless individuals from different racial backgrounds. However, the article specifically focuses on homeless youth. Generally, it is widely known that police officers more abrasively to non-White youth, and, therefore, the authors sought to establish whether it is the same situation with the homeless. The authors established that police interaction with the homeless youth was relatively the same across all racial backgrounds, that is, both the Whites and non-White youth were treated the same. Conventionally, people would expect non-White youths to be treated more abrasively but it appears homelessness to some extent makes them equal. Additionally, the authors suggest that homeless youth are harassed more than adults. Therefore, this article is relevant to my research topic in two ways. Firstly, it compares police treatment of homeless youth and homeless adults, and helps present insights into the reasons for this differential treatment. Secondly, the article discusses the sensitive issue of race and whether police officers perceive homeless individuals from different racial backgrounds differently. In this article, the authors try to investigate the perceptions of police officers towards the homeless. A survey was sent to 100 police departments in the United States to establish police policies and contact with the homeless. The authors established that police officers generally do not initiate contact on their own with the homeless because they do not believe these individuals pose significant security threats. On the contrary, the police mostly get in contact with the homeless as a reaction to the public reports or concerns. The police officers then could arrest the homeless on reasons such as loitering, engaging in crimes, or using drugs. In this article, members of the public are portrayed as people who perceive the homeless as trouble-makers, just like in traditional conflict theories, which perceive individuals involved in conflict to be trouble-makers. The broken windows theory is also mentioned in this article, where police officers maintain some presence within the homeless encampments, with the belief that their presence helps to deter crimes or prevent antisocial behavior from the homeless. This article is relevant to my research topic, especially in the aspect that police officers do not believe that it is their responsibility to deal with the homeless. In this article, the authors investigate the level of trust the homeless have towards police officers and the paramedics. The intention of the authors was to establish whom the homeless could report to in case of emergencies. The findings suggest that the homeless trust paramedics more than police officers. These findings have significant implications for police departments, especially considering that police officers are charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order. Homeless individuals treat police officers with a lot of suspicion, and this means that they are less likely to cooperate with them. This article is relevant to the research topic because it looks at a different angle, which is, how the homeless perceive police officers. Although many people may want police officers to deal with the homeless in a humane manner, it is also necessary to change the attitudes of the homeless towards police officers.
References
Ivanich, J. D., & Warner, T. D. (2019). Seen or unseen? The role of race in police contact among homeless youth. Justice Quarterly : JQ, 36 (5), 816-840. doi:http://dx.doi.org.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/10.1080/07418825.2018.1463389
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Robert, H. M., Crawford, C., & Burns, R. (2013). Policing the homeless: Policy, practice, and perceptions. Policing, 36 (2), 357-374. doi:http://dx.doi.org.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/10.1108/13639511311329741
Zakrison, T. L., Hamel, P. A., & Hwang, S. W. (2004). Homeless people’s trust and interactions with police and paramedics. Journal of Urban Health , 81 (4), 596-605.
