Portland's Homeless

There was an incident here in Portland a few days ago in which a police officer shot and killed a homeless man who refused to respond to the officer's command to come out of a public restroom and then later charged toward him threateningly with a butcher knife and shouts of his intention to kill the officer.

The public here seems to blame the police for the shooting, saying the incident should have been handled non violently, and that the multitude of homeless here don't receive enough mental health counseling that would prevent such incidents. This shows the weird priorities toward the homeless here. They are not just tolerated. They are enabled and encouraged to act out here.
Portland has way too many homeless, and they are here practically at the invitation of the city. Most are transient who head for Portland because the city does not enforce loitering laws.

Homeless types are allowed to sleep on sidewalks and even "ask" people for money as they pass by. Also, the city has many shelters that feed and house the homeless. It's way too much enabling that keeps them homeless and not enough demand that those who are homeless make an attempt to get off the streets.Too, security problems can arise when the many mentally ill, vulgar or violent homeless are allowed free reign. And the word out is that homeless people everywhere should head for homeless paradise- Portland, Oregon.

When I have gone into the downtown area of Portland I have noticed the flock of aggressive homeless ("whatever happened to the old "bums" term that used to be used to describe them) who mostly inhabit the poorer northern part of the city where so many shelters are. It is impossible to walk some streets there without being confronted by the presence of the or by being blocked from passing or asked for money. Police do nothing to remove them form the areas. This is unlike any city I have visited in the U.S.

After the shooting incident the Portland government wants to institute a "protected zone" on the streets in those areas in which pedestrians would be free from dealing with the homeless. No homeless would be allowed to loiter in the protected zone areas and must step out if anyone passes by.

The program the Portland city government leaders uses in "managing" the homeless is an embarrassment to the residents and threat to public safety. Better would be a strict enforcement of loitering laws common to most cities world-wide which provide that a person is to be arrested if he or she inhabits the sidewalk permanently. Once arrested the homeless cold be examined for mental health, addiction or criminal records and dealt with by the city in treatment housing or jail (depending on which fits the individual) off the streets.

Until the city stops promoting homeless crowds there will be more violent incidents involving them. What is the homeless policy in your city?