It is a "no-brainer" to say it's cold outside. I do not like it nor but I can understand a law to stop Urban camping. Denver went too far. To take blankets and tents from the homeless in cold weather is cruel and barbaric. It condemns the homeless to die in cold weather. In warm weather it exposes to disease from mosquito's and the weather.
The mayor can point to how many homeless have been helped all he wants to but it shows that somebody was not thinking. Of those helped, did the help extend beyond one day? How many received housing and jobs? Before the police conducted a sweep to take blankets and tents from the homeless, did somebody check the shelters to see how many beds were available? Was somebody not told that most shelters have a severe restriction on how many days a person can use the shelter per month? You took their blankets and tents so they get put outside in freezing weather later. Do you know that some homeless work but have no place to stay? Without a tent, where are they supposed to rest? How can they keep a job to save up for an apartment?
Why not follow the example of the city I live in? During cold weather, open warming centers. They have army cots in them. Some have blankets only. In severe weather, buses are sent to sites and the people have to load up with their stuff to go to warming sites. In warm weather, the police announce several days ahead of time that there will be a sweep. On that day everybody must be out of the homeless camp. Anything left will be thrown away.
I can understand that the police want evidence. Evidence that a person has lost everything and is reduced to living on the street is important to someone who wants to feel superior. Did somebody forget that pictures are taken at crime scenes? Take a picture of the person trying to survive with blankets and hopefully a tent. Somebody can feel superior longer that way. The way it was handled was cruel. When the police took a homeless person's blanket, did they offer a ride to a shelter?
I watched news feeds and read information from the the following links before blogging.
http://www.denverpost.com/2016/12/10/denver-mayor-orders-police-not-to-confiscate-blankets-and-tents-from-homeless/
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/front-range/denver/stop-taking-blankets-from-the-homeless-mayor-hancock-to-denver-police
http://kdvr.com/2016/12/10/mayor-hancock-tells-police-not-to-take-camping-equipment-from-homeless/
http://gazette.com/denver-mayor-tells-police-to-stop-taking-tents-and-blankets-from-homeless/article/1592064
Read the full letter sent to the mayor from the ACLU
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hancock_(Colorado_politician)
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