Tonight in Fall River before the City Council, I will speak firmly and passionately in opposition to one of the state’s first ordinances proposing to criminalize homelessness.
Never in the history of crime and punishment has any place in the world ever incarcerated its way out of a crime problem. Jails and prisons deal with the aftereffect of crime, not the causes of crime. Needlessly incarcerating people is costly to taxpayers and can have a criminogenic effect on people incarcerated. The key word is “needlessly.”
Neither punishment nor incarceration are solutions to homelessness; they are intensifiers.
Why am I concerned about this? This is a short-sighted shallow idea that will cause more problems than it solves.
The recent Supreme Court ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson makes it easier for communities everywhere in the U.S., including in Bristol County, to fine, ticket or arrest people experiencing homelessness — even when there is no adequate shelter available. Punishment as a solution throws gas on a fire we want to put out.
Let’s say Fall River passes this ordinance to fine, ticket or arrest someone residing in a public space.
Now, what happens if someone residing in a public space without an alternative does not pay a fine or ticket?
A judge may sentence the offender to serve time for failure to pay. This is a debtor’s prison. This isn’t good for anyone.
Now taxpayers are paying tens of thousands of dollars to house, feed and provide medical care to someone who didn’t have a place to call home and didn’t squat on someone’s private property. Moreover, once a homeless person adds a criminal conviction to his or her record, getting a job and getting back on his or her feet is exponentially more difficult.
We should build shelters with wrap-around services to get people back on their feet, not punish them.
Paul Heroux
Sheriff of Bristol County
