SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – On Tuesday, a common sight was in the East Village of downtown San Diego.
San Diego police officers interacted with people experiencing homelessness.
Under a new police chief, the department said it's having a renewed commitment to its Neighborhood Policing Division.
"What it means is that every group of academy graduates, after they complete their field training, they come to Neighborhood Policing for about three months. There they learn the ins and outs, the laws, all of the things would expect an officer needs to know when they're interacting with the homeless,” Captain Steve Shebloski, SDPD Neighborhood Policing Division said.
Shebloski runs the division referred to as NPD. He told ABC 10News that the first group of 23 grads started working with senior officers in October.
"I want them to use good assessment, good judgment, figure out what's going on in life that's not only got them to be homeless but what's keeping them homeless,” Shebloski said."I want officers to get out and assess. I don't want to be the move-along division.”
This means understanding how to connect people to shelters, resources, and medical needs early.
But making that kind of a dent means an increased police presence.
"By having all of these officers assigned here that are new, is, we've doubled the size of our homeless outreach team."
The influx of officers could also mean an increase in enforcement.
That's where some local advocates take issue.
"The tension that is on our streets right now because people are just constantly being moved from point A to point B, regardless of any disability or other issues that they got going on in their lives, is really outrageous,” John Brady of Lived Experience Advisers said.
Brady is a local homeless advocate who was once homeless himself.
He told ABC 10News the possibility of increased homeless enforcement is frustrating because of the overall lack of available resources.
Brady said the trust between the community he helps and the police could take time.
"But, the other component of it is about taking care of people that are, that will die on our streets if we don't intervene. And I am very supportive, and so is the rest of our team,” Brady said.
Shebloski said the goal isn't to criminalize homelessness in San Diego.
But, it is to address it, and this initiative he thinks will work.
"It's going to take time, but it's about focusing on those individual wins. And taking homelessness into a situation where we focus on each individual contact, making it the best we can and putting that person in touch with the right service provider,” Shebloski said.
