Sent to a Shopping Center Instead of Home
A recent Local 10 hidden-camera investigation exposed a troubling reality hiding in plain sight in Fort Lauderdale. Reporters documented dozens of people sleeping overnight at the River Market shopping center, many of them recently released from jail or prison. Many of them registered sex offenders. Shoppers, employees, and even city officials expressed shock upon learning that people were spending their nights there. According to the report, authorities quickly distanced themselves from responsibility, with probation officials denying that individuals were being directed to the location.
For those of us who have been fighting for reform for years, there was nothing surprising about this story. In fact, it is a pattern we have seen over and over again. A person is released from incarceration. They want to go home. They want to live with family. They want to reconnect with a support system that research consistently shows is one of the strongest predictors of successful reentry. But because of residency restrictions, registration requirements, zoning rules, probation conditions, or bureaucratic obstacles, many are prevented from doing exactly that.
Instead, they end up in places no one would ever choose as a residence: under bridges, in encampments, in industrial areas, and now apparently in a shopping center parking lot. With no access to restrooms!
Authorities quietly direct people to these locations, either explicitly or implicitly by telling them where they can and cannot go. The public eventually discovers what is happening and reacts with outrage. Reporters start asking questions. Elected officials express surprise. And suddenly the agencies responsible deny any involvement.
For years, FAC has warned policymakers that when you make lawful housing unavailable, people do not magically disappear. They still exist. They still need somewhere to sleep. The choice is not whether these individuals will live somewhere. The choice is whether they will be allowed to live in stable housing with their families or be forced into homelessness and instability.
What makes this story particularly frustrating is that many of the people sleeping in that shopping center have family members who would welcome them into their homes. They could be sleeping in a bed instead of a parking lot. They could be rebuilding their lives instead of simply surviving another night outdoors. Yet the same policies that create these situations continue to be defended as public-safety measures.
If public safety were truly the goal, we would be encouraging stable housing, family reunification, employment, and community support. Instead, we continue to create barriers that push people into homelessness and then act surprised when homelessness appears. The Local 10 investigation did not expose a mystery. It exposed the inevitable consequence of policies that prioritize exclusion over reintegration.
FAC has been saying this for years. When people are prevented from living with their families, they do not vanish. They end up somewhere. The only question is whether that “somewhere” will be a home or a shopping center parking lot.
Politicians created this problem. Politicians need to fix it!
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The United States represents just under 5% of the world’s population but holds approximately 20% to 25% of the world’s total incarcerated population. While the exact global prison population is around 11.5 million, the U.S. alone incarcerates between 1.7 to 2 million individuals in its local jails and state and federal prisons
Just sad statistics really
https://eji.org/news/u-s-remains-world-leader-in-number-of-people-incarcerated/
I have to admit, I used to think that it was alcoholics, drug addicts and people that didn’t want responsibilities that lived homeless. I didn’t realize that a responsible, college educated person with good credit and a job would be FORCED out of living in a stable household with a USN Veteran mom/retired teacher dad and could be punished by their city into making them homeless……until it happened to our son!!! Tarrant County Texas prohibits SRO from leaving the county during probation, while at the same puts laws in place that does NOT allow them to live in the county. We are retired, sold our home and started over so our son wouldn’t be homeless. How is it possible that these cities are allowed to override the court system and add additional punishments to their sentences?? Forcing people into homelessness is not a “safety zone”. It’s a PUNISHMENT beyond what they courts mandate. Exactly how does forcing a SRO into homelessness make a city more safe???? I see homeless people that are obviously mentally unstable. I often wonder……what came first? The homelessness or the mental illness? What does court ordered counseling solve? If at the same time, SRO are forced to mentally deal with being homeless and having no other options?
Politicians are in the business of politics, not Humanity. And Florida, much less the US as a whole, is certainly not one to correct itself regarding the many new laws it creates on a yearly basis
What is funny i know the someone in charge of hernando county probation had told a PFR to go to an address and use it. Be homeless on ankle monitor with a portable battery pack and tent out in wilderness to do probation and it clears spot checks. The inhumanity for others get resources to gain housing in my county.
The only reason why these laws and restrictions are in place is because politicians are hoping that RSO’s will violate and be sent back to prison. Remember, prison is a business, and all beds must be filled to make money.
Politicians definitely created the problem but I can’t imagine they’ll ever fix it. What they will do is continue to add more and harsher restrictions to us. The only real fix will come when SCOTUS takes a registry case and either limits or ,hopefully, abolishes the registry.