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[November 30, 2007, 5:05 pm]
"Metro's Homeless Sweep Draws Some Criticism"
For the past several months, Police in Nashville have been trying to rid downtown of problems with the homeless.
So far, they said it is working.
Since July, 454 people have been issued citations for "quality of life" violations in part of an ongoing effort by Metro police to clean up downtown sidewalks and streets.
Police are looking closely at the homeless, charging them with public intoxication, indecent exposure and trespassing.
Gary Basham is homeless and roams the streets of Nashville. He was nabbed by police just last week.
“I had gone to Subway and gotten a sandwich and a coke and I was sitting in the park,” he said. “They go through my pockets, run my ID and the next thing I know they're putting handcuffs on me and arresting me for trespassing.”
Matt Leber is a homeless advocate.
He said police in Nashville are unfairly targeting homeless people who have no place to go and thinks the effort is a waste of taxpayer money.
Leber said, “Vagrancy means sleeping on a bench, public obstruction means sleeping on a grate on the sidewalk. Are these really crimes or are these people who need a place to go?”
According to police, a large number of the homeless who are being arrested are what police might call "career criminals".
Since June, 245 of these individuals were arrested 417 times.
As a group, they have nearly 8,300 arrests on their record and nearly 13,000 charges.
On average they have been convicted nearly 23 times in their lifetime.
Some downtown workers, like Lisa Smith, are happy to see police doing something about it.
She said, “It’s the holidays so I don't want a bunch of people around with a lot of stuff going on, you know mugging people robbing people. So I'm glad they're cleaning up the place.”
Metro Police said the "quality of life" effort is working and will continue the sweep for the near future.
