Friday October 19 - Cleaning up

Friday October 19 - Cleaning up


We are sitting on a parking place bumper across the street from the ARCH, waiting to see what, if any, food trucks or ministry may show up. We usually sit away from the activity around the Arch as we find much we would rather not be associated with, whether that be illegal drug activity or crazy, weird people, and there are enough of them for sure. It is getting late, later than usual for food to become available, and I am beginning to consider our options.

A police cruiser pulls up across the street in front of the ARCH, an officer gets out and points at an Hispanic man. He gets his I.D. and begins to run a check on it. The police "paddy wagon" pulls up just down the street from us, close, about 30 yards away. Another officer gets out and walks across the street to assist the first officer.

The Hispanic man is handed back his I.D. and another black man seems to be the focus of the officers attention. They have him stand in front of the police cruiser and the second officer returns to the paddy wagon, reaches into the side door and then returns to the cruiser with some paper work and ties used as hand cuffs. The officers then tie the black man's hands behind him. It appears that they are having trouble but eventually cuff him and put him in the back of the cruiser.

The first officer returns to three individuals, including the first Hispanic man, and converses with them. The Hispanic man appears to be arguing, but the officer seems to pay little attention to him. The officer returns to his squad car and is writing something on the hood of the car. He returns to the three and hands one of them what appears to be a ticket. He hands it to a woman with a prosthetic leg who had been the subject of some harassment for sleeping behind the ARCH about a week earlier.

The officer from the paddy wagon returns to the paddy wagon and waits. The first officer, after doing some paper work on the hood of his car, gets in and begins to pull away, followed by the paddy wagon. From the direction they head they are not going directly to the jail or the police station.

The woman handed the ticket returns to her usual seated position. The Hispanic man and a short Hispanic woman are in heated argument. The three eventually disperse and blend with the rest of the gazers on.

The police have been involve in a concerted "crack down" focused particularly on the homeless for just over a month. At an ARCH town hall meeting, Wednesday October 17, we were told that in this period the police had made over 500 arrests involving the homeless. The ARCH services between 400 and 500 clients a day. Of this number, a great many are not actually homeless but rather "users", taking advantage of whatever "free" services they can; essentially exploiting the system, finding the easiest way to "get over".

Most of the "homeless" that I have met are legitimately "homeless" for whatever reason; they are not "illegitimate users" of the system, nor are they illegitimate drug offenders that hang out, outside the doors of the ARCH. Too be sure, there has been, and to a great degree continues to be a significant "drug culture" that has found residence around the ARCH, but it is slowly diminishing. The main problem as I observe it, is the police missing the mark. Yes, they made a great many arrests for "minor" infractions, but they are missing the target if eliminating the drug problem is their goal.

While the arrest yesterday was being made what went undetected was the strategic retreats made by the more abusive. What goes undetected or possibly ignored is the open use of "pot" as innocents wait in lines. What is overlooked is the fact that there is a mentality that places guilty abusers over against not only law enforcement but the innocent homeless caught between a rock and a hard place. The guilty abusers do not care or give a damn about any but themselves. They exercise their lives without regard for any kind of human regard, whether it be butting to the front of lines or tossing "roaches" at the feet of another, thereby placing the innocent in jeopardy and under suspicion.

Most know that I would like to see the repeal of laws against the use of marijuana, but unfortunately that does not appear to be happening very fast. And as a result, police have to enforce laws that make criminals of what are otherwise average citizens. "Pot" use is the most blatant violation of the drug laws around the ARCH, but if these violations are the cause of harassing actions by law enforcement, I would rather the place be cleaned up and the innocent homeless be given the unobstructed availability of the resources they can use and need, but "cleaning it up" implies more than just "pot" and drugs. It means dealing with any and all who are not suffering the state of homelessness. The users, abusers and waster's of their own lives needs to be dealt with and not a blanket indiscriminant condemnation of the unfortunates living on the streets or in shelters.