Understanding How Society’s Neglect of Homeless People Opens the Door for Criminals to Exploit Their Vulnerable Situation
Experiencing homelessness instantly places you among the most vulnerable in society. The risks only multiply if you are a woman, a person of color, or living with a disability. This harsh reality often leaves homeless individuals exposed to various forms of violence and neglect. Their invisibility makes them even more susceptible to harm. It’s crucial that we, as a society, stand up, support, and defend them against all forms of injustice and indifference.
Exploiting the Most Defenseless
Around the world, the powerful often exploit the powerless, and homeless people are some of the most defenseless targets. Too often, they are left without protection or advocates. Tragically, those who should be protecting them—like law enforcement, criminalizing legislation, or NIMBY community members—are frequently the ones causing the most harm.
A recent police raid on a homeless encampment in Pittsburgh illustrates how quickly every side can converge to oppress this already vulnerable population further.
On August 7th, Pittsburg police raided and cleared out an encampment at the corner of Grant Street and Fort Pitt Boulevard. It was around 6:30 pm when two dozen police officers pushed their way into the camp. According to CBS News, several homeless people were handcuffed, and tents were raided. Reports say drugs and other materials were confiscated. Some homeless people were taken to jail or instructed to leave.
As a result, the encampment was decommissioned, and residents were given a vacate date. The encampment had been there for the last two years; it’s now deserted.
The Lack of Reporting and Compassion
But here’s the bigger problem. When news organizations cover stories like this, the reporting tends to lack information. Just from this news article alone, we don’t know who was arrested, why, or where the city intends to relocate the homeless people who once resided in the camp. There is also no information about services that may have been offered.
I thought about how, when disaster strikes, communities often rally to support those who have lost their homes, possessions, and sense of security. But that compassion seems to vanish when it comes to people experiencing homelessness. Imagine losing everything you have in an instant—through a police raid, with no wrongdoing on your part—and realizing that no one really cares. The thought is devastating, yet it’s the reality for so many.
Getting the Story Right
The next day, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published a different kind of article. Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt claimed that those who engage in illegal activity had been targeting the homeless camp as an easy way to hide their actions and take advantage of homeless people.
“They’re just using that as a way to kind of cover for their activity, targeting the most vulnerable people that are unhoused, that are in a difficult situation and are in need of money – they’ll have them do some low-level dealing and that sort of thing. And we don’t want to criminalize folks because they’re homeless. They don’t realize because they’re being victimized,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt also claimed that none of those arrests were of homeless people who resided in that encampment, and it would not be decommissioned.
The Systemic Issues at Play
While it’s easy for most readers to miss at first glance, a lot is happening in this story. First, Schmidt admittedly expresses how homeless people and encampments such as this one are a target for criminals. Second, and more importantly, he shares how it is “easy [for criminals] to hide their actions.”
Why is that? Because homeless people receive the least amount of consideration and much less protection within a community.
When communities attempt to address homelessness, they often resort to criminalization—a harsh and unkind approach. Rather than offering compassion and support, people experiencing homelessness are frequently met with sweeps and, at worst, arrests simply for trying to survive. This punitive response not only fails to address their needs but also exacerbates their suffering.
Criminals exploit this lack of societal concern, knowing that the invisibility and neglect faced by homeless individuals make their encampments ideal places to carry out illegal activities. Society’s tendency to overlook these issues only empowers those who seek to exploit our most vulnerable neighbors and, in the same swoop, make our communities less safe.
A Call for Compassionate Solutions
What’s most distressing is that, from every side, there is harm.
What would be the right solution? The humane response would involve providing care, relief, and essential services. Instead of solely deploying police, caseworkers could have been sent to assist encampment residents, helping them replace lost identification or medication. They could have been guided to resources such as case management, public welfare, shelters, and if needed, substance abuse services. There are numerous ways to offer meaningful support—anything is better than leaving individuals with nothing, and we must reject the notion that doing nothing is an acceptable alternative to arrests and incarceration.
