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Agenda Item
28 (CONTINUED FROM JUNE 24, 2020) - Request Authorization to Enter Into a Contract with Crisis Response Network, Inc. for a Web-Based Emergency Shelter Availability Portal Due to COVID-19 Pandemic (Ordinance S-46798)
The police are not equipped to deal with the unsheltered population, in terms of either training or temperament.
Do not inflict those racist bullies on the most vulnerable members of our community.
Police fight crime. Homelessness isn’t a crime. This is clearly a job for trained social workers. Please invest the $200,000 in beds and sheltering. 800-1000 people are sleeping outside because shelters are full.
Access to the emergency shelter portal should not be in the hands of Phoenix Police Department. The access to a tool such as this one belongs in the hands of social workers and other helping professionals. As a citizen of Phoenix who is currently obtaining a Master's in Social Work, it is unjust for our citizens to be ticketed, cited and arrested for being in public spaces while experiencing homelessness.
This will allow further discrimination towards the homeless community and funds need to be focused on community based programs, not allowing the police to criminalize those in our community.
I am opposing this item because police do not need access to a homelessness database. Homelessness should be addressed by social workers, mental health professionals, and addiction specialists, not police officers. Unsheltered people need community support. Criminalizing them is not the answer. Instead, we need to increase the number of shelter beds in our community and focus on the professionals who are actually equipped and trained to assist people experiencing homelessness.
Instead of allowing Phx PD access to this portal, we need to increase shelter beds, and certified care workers specializing in cases of homelessness. Police access to this portal increases the chance of violence and incarceration.
I oppose this ordinance because I feel that allowing police access to sensitive information will further discrimination towards homelessness. This is a miss-use of funds that does not help the community but rather hurts it even more.
I oppose the police involvement and oversight of this portal. It is not a crime to be broke with nowhere to go, especially during a pandemic with record unemployment numbers. I also imagine shelters themselves could better allocate $200,000.
The City Council seems determined to redirect funding to PHX PD projects to criminalize and abuse the community. There is no reason PHX PD needs access to this sensitive information. Our community members experiencing homelessness are entitled to privacy and respect. Instead, immediately schedule vote to increase shelter beds and fund a response team of certified trauma informed care workers for homelessness crisis issues. Stop criminalizing homelessness. Stop enabling police abuse.
I have family who is experiencing homelessness. Homelessness should not be criminalized, especially in a pandemic where access to public spaces is restricted. Those without homes depend on public spaces like libraries and parks to survive.They risk being cited simply for having nowhere else to go. We need to address the systemic barriers to finding housing by directing resources to creating more shelters and beds, and having trauma informed care workers respond to calls instead of police.
Information on shelter bed availability should be used by social workers to help people find shelter, NOT by police officers. People lacking a home are more likely to be cited, ticketed, or arrested for being in public places, which doesn't solve the proximal issue - homelessness. It is safer for unsheltered people to be taken care of by trained social and/or mental health workers. Please stop investing in the police to perform duties they are not trained to do. Invest in the community!
Homelessness should not be criminalized. Get the police away from homeless people and instead involve other types of professionals who can actually help the homeless.
Community members experiencing homelessness must be treated with dignity and respect, not like criminals. There is no reason PD needs access to the places people call home. These folks are entitled to privacy and respect, especially from law. The following needs to be done: 1) A provider portal funded 100% with no law enforcement access; 2) Immediately schedule vote to increase shelter beds; 3) Only certified trauma informed care workers responding to calls for homelessness.
There is a continuous lack of transparency with our elected officials that needs to be addressed. Most of the major players in homelessness were not consulted about these plans (the homelessness plan, this plan) prior and given an opportunity for feedback/input PRIOR to solidifying and voting. The City also needs to address the fact that over 50% of our homeless population is unsheltered and our homeless population has increased 200% since 2014 with minimal city resources allotted to assuage.
Police do not need access to Crisis Response Network. The police are not needed for calls in response to unhoused people. Bring in trauma informed care workers to respond to calls for the unhoused. Please stop investing into police and invest in the community.
As someone who has direct experience working with Community Bridges, Phoenix CARES, and Phoenix PD, I believe that this access will do more harm than good. There are more productive and humane ways to approach this issue. We need more caseworkers, more shelters, and more security nets and services funded before we allow the over-funded and under-trained police to maneuver around the laws and amendments put in place to protect people experiencing homelessness. This is not the answer. Try harder.
We demand that you deny police sole access to the shelter database. This will only harm the homeless by perpetuating their strife and allowing criminalization and violence to be enacted towards them by the police. We also demand that you schedule a vote to increase shelter beds, which will help the homeless effectively. Last, we demand that only certified trauma-informed care workers respond to calls for homelessness. Please have empathy and compassion for the vulnerable in our community.
The police are not equipped to deal with the unsheltered population, in terms of either training or temperament.
Do not inflict those racist bullies on the most vulnerable members of our community.
Police fight crime. Homelessness isn’t a crime. This is clearly a job for trained social workers. Please invest the $200,000 in beds and sheltering. 800-1000 people are sleeping outside because shelters are full.
Poverty isn't a crime, we should be assisting houseless folks instead of criminalizing them further.
Access to the emergency shelter portal should not be in the hands of Phoenix Police Department. The access to a tool such as this one belongs in the hands of social workers and other helping professionals. As a citizen of Phoenix who is currently obtaining a Master's in Social Work, it is unjust for our citizens to be ticketed, cited and arrested for being in public spaces while experiencing homelessness.
This will allow further discrimination towards the homeless community and funds need to be focused on community based programs, not allowing the police to criminalize those in our community.
I am opposing this item because police do not need access to a homelessness database. Homelessness should be addressed by social workers, mental health professionals, and addiction specialists, not police officers. Unsheltered people need community support. Criminalizing them is not the answer. Instead, we need to increase the number of shelter beds in our community and focus on the professionals who are actually equipped and trained to assist people experiencing homelessness.
Instead of allowing Phx PD access to this portal, we need to increase shelter beds, and certified care workers specializing in cases of homelessness. Police access to this portal increases the chance of violence and incarceration.
I oppose this ordinance because I feel that allowing police access to sensitive information will further discrimination towards homelessness. This is a miss-use of funds that does not help the community but rather hurts it even more.
I oppose the police involvement and oversight of this portal. It is not a crime to be broke with nowhere to go, especially during a pandemic with record unemployment numbers. I also imagine shelters themselves could better allocate $200,000.
Allowing only police to access this network will lead to further discrimination. This is an unacceptable and unethical use of public funds.
Police access to the database will only further criminalize houseless folks. We need to invest in our communities! Vote NO!
The City Council seems determined to redirect funding to PHX PD projects to criminalize and abuse the community. There is no reason PHX PD needs access to this sensitive information. Our community members experiencing homelessness are entitled to privacy and respect. Instead, immediately schedule vote to increase shelter beds and fund a response team of certified trauma informed care workers for homelessness crisis issues. Stop criminalizing homelessness. Stop enabling police abuse.
I have family who is experiencing homelessness. Homelessness should not be criminalized, especially in a pandemic where access to public spaces is restricted. Those without homes depend on public spaces like libraries and parks to survive.They risk being cited simply for having nowhere else to go. We need to address the systemic barriers to finding housing by directing resources to creating more shelters and beds, and having trauma informed care workers respond to calls instead of police.
Information on shelter bed availability should be used by social workers to help people find shelter, NOT by police officers. People lacking a home are more likely to be cited, ticketed, or arrested for being in public places, which doesn't solve the proximal issue - homelessness. It is safer for unsheltered people to be taken care of by trained social and/or mental health workers. Please stop investing in the police to perform duties they are not trained to do. Invest in the community!
Homelessness should not be criminalized. Get the police away from homeless people and instead involve other types of professionals who can actually help the homeless.
Community members experiencing homelessness must be treated with dignity and respect, not like criminals. There is no reason PD needs access to the places people call home. These folks are entitled to privacy and respect, especially from law. The following needs to be done: 1) A provider portal funded 100% with no law enforcement access; 2) Immediately schedule vote to increase shelter beds; 3) Only certified trauma informed care workers responding to calls for homelessness.
There is a continuous lack of transparency with our elected officials that needs to be addressed. Most of the major players in homelessness were not consulted about these plans (the homelessness plan, this plan) prior and given an opportunity for feedback/input PRIOR to solidifying and voting. The City also needs to address the fact that over 50% of our homeless population is unsheltered and our homeless population has increased 200% since 2014 with minimal city resources allotted to assuage.
Police do not need access to Crisis Response Network. The police are not needed for calls in response to unhoused people. Bring in trauma informed care workers to respond to calls for the unhoused. Please stop investing into police and invest in the community.
As someone who has direct experience working with Community Bridges, Phoenix CARES, and Phoenix PD, I believe that this access will do more harm than good. There are more productive and humane ways to approach this issue. We need more caseworkers, more shelters, and more security nets and services funded before we allow the over-funded and under-trained police to maneuver around the laws and amendments put in place to protect people experiencing homelessness. This is not the answer. Try harder.
We demand that you deny police sole access to the shelter database. This will only harm the homeless by perpetuating their strife and allowing criminalization and violence to be enacted towards them by the police. We also demand that you schedule a vote to increase shelter beds, which will help the homeless effectively. Last, we demand that only certified trauma-informed care workers respond to calls for homelessness. Please have empathy and compassion for the vulnerable in our community.