Homelessness and Crime

Upon researching homelessness in correlation to crime, it was expected to find higher levels of homeless people committing crime that crime being committed against homeless people, but the latter did prove to be the more prominent problem.  Time and time again, the homeless population has crimes committed against it (deemed hate crimes), ranging from theft to beatings to the extreme yet rare cases of murder.  Why the stigma against homeless?  Why the homeless population is targeted for crime, and more specifically, hate crime?

A hate crime is defined as a crime in which the person who commits the crime intentionally chooses their victim.  In recent years, hate crimes against homeless people have risen to alarming levels and are thus receiving more attention from homeless advocates and activist groups.  Groups such as the National Coalition for the Homeless and its Civil Rights Work Group have began efforts to raise awareness of this issue among lawmakers and the general public in hopes to battle this increasing problem.  Although there is no current federal criminal prohibition against violent crimes aimed at individuals because of their housing status, there is work being done to include it in near future pieces of legislation.  It seems unreasonable that these people who are already in a vulnerable position because of their lack of shelter are not protected by hate crime laws.

Types of Hate Crimes

· “Mission offenders” – people who commit crimes because they believe the world needs to be rid of a certain evil, the evil being the homeless population

· “Scapegoat offenders” – people who commit crimes as a way of demonstrating their disgust toward the increasing power of a certain racial or ethnic group

· “Thrill seekers” – people who commit crimes as a way of satisfying their own thrills by taking advantage of a vulnerable group

This last definition describes the majority of people who commit crimes against the homeless population.  Essentially, those people that are homeless are an easy target for people to commit crimes against. A quote from The Seattle PI, “Homeless Face Violent Life on Streets,” a Seattle police spokesman was noted to say; "I think it is dangerous to be homeless, period, if you don't have shelter, you know, you're subject to the elements and to other individuals who may prey upon you."

Hate crimes against homeless people is a national problem, naturally occurring in cities where the homeless population is visible.  Some of the main cities in which there have been many documented cases are California (multiple areas), Texas, Florida, and Washington, New York, and Colorado, among most other states.  The National Coalition for the Homeless conducted national research on hate crimes in 2000 that produced the following results.

Of 66 documented violent crimes:

· Total number of dead victims:  43

· Total number of victims who suffered non-lethal violence:  23

· Number of cities where crimes occurred:  41

· The ages of those convicted ranged from 18-39 years

· The known ages of victims ranged from 19-72 years

· The gender of victims was:  60 male, 5 female, 1 unknown

Examples of Hate Crimes in Seattle/Tacoma

· Tacoma, Washington - Man Robbed at Knifepoint
A 48-year-old self-described transient was standing at a bus stop when a man approached him and pulled a knife on him, demanding his money.  The man surrendered $9 in cash to the stranger.  The man called 911 from a nearby payphone.  Police responded, and, with the help of the man, began to search for the robber.  They were unsuccessful, and no arrests were made.

· Seattle, Washington - Homeless Woman Murdered
On May 26, a 40-year-old homeless woman, Debbie Jean Cashio, was found dead in an overgrown patch of land.  Seattle Police Detectives regarded Cashio’s death as suspicious and were investigating it as a homicide.  Detectives continued to search for information that could help solve the case.

The National Coalition for the Homeless © 2004

1012 Fourteenth Street, NW, #600, Washington, DC 20005-3471

[email-masked]

The Seattle Post Intelligencer Reports . . .

The Seattle PI, among other publications, has devoted some attention to the violence that homeless people in Seattle and around the country are exposed to while living on the streets.  An article published in early 2003 called “Homeless Face Violent Life on Streets” highlights some of the dangers that homeless people face, and the measures that are being taken to increase rights and protection for the homeless.  In Seattle alone, seven organizations have joined the National Coalition for the Homeless to see that a federal investigation into the nature and scope of hate crimes against homeless people is conducted.  They are giving strong encouragement to Congress to delve further into this issue and make some changes.  This attention is especially important for Seattle homeless, as Seattle is the seventh most dangerous city for a homeless person.  The following data was presented in the article, displaying facts about violent acts against homeless, placing Seattle with one of the highest levels of threat for homeless people.

For the complete article, see:  http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/125753_homeless09.html.