OnPolicing Blog

Law enforcement agencies across the United States are more and more involved in responding to homelessness. Calls for service involving people who are unhoused, especially those who are chronically homeless, take up a great deal of officer time and agency resources. But being homeless is not a crime. This fact means homelessness is not, at its core, a law enforcement issue.

Homelessness is a complex social problem. It is shaped by housing costs, health care systems, job markets, and social safety nets. These are systems that law enforcement agencies do not control. For this reason, law enforcement agencies should not lead a community’s response to homelessness. Instead, they should be one part of a larger, shared response. They are most effective when they work closely with local partners to address the problem together.

Because law enforcement officers are available 24 hours a day, every day of the year, they often become the default responders to homelessness. However, they are rarely the best equipped to lead a full response. Law enforcement agencies should have a seat at the table, but they should not sit at the head of it. Strong responses require many partners, shaped by local needs. These partners often include other government agencies, housing providers, mental health professionals, public health agencies, outreach workers, researchers, and people with lived experience of homelessness. Law enforcement officers play an important role, but that role works best when it is supportive, strategic, and collaborative—not punitive or isolated.

Why Focus on Chronic Homelessness?

Most people who experience homelessness do so for a short time and often out of public view. A much smaller group experiences homelessness for long periods. This group is known as the chronically homeless. They are more likely to live unsheltered, be highly visible in public spaces, and experience serious mental illness, substance use disorders, and long-term health problems. Some may also be resistant to services.

Because of these factors, people who are chronically homeless have frequent contact with law enforcement, emergency medical services, hospitals, and courts. Their visibility creates pressure for action. Residents, businesses, and elected officials often view homelessness as a public safety issue and look to law enforcement for quick solutions, often through enforcing quality-of-life laws.

While arrests may sometimes be necessary, research shows they are rarely the preferred response—for officers, service providers, or people experiencing homelessness. Enforcement may reduce visibility in the short term, but it does not reduce homelessness. It can also damage trust in law enforcement. In many cases, it traps people in cycles of arrest, tickets, and displacement that raise costs without improving safety or well-being.

The Real Costs of Enforcement-Driven Responses

Using the criminal justice system to respond to chronic homelessness is expensive. Repeated law enforcement contacts, jail stays, emergency room visits, and court involvement can cost tens of thousands of dollars per person each year. These costs are often much higher than the cost of supportive housing or coordinated service responses.

At the same time, people who are chronically homeless face high risks of being victimized, becoming seriously ill, or dying early. Some experience violent crimes, including hate-based attacks. Yet they are less likely to report these crimes due to fear, distrust of authorities, or lack of access to help. This highlights an important truth: people experiencing homelessness are not only subjects of enforcement—they are also among the most vulnerable victims in our communities.

A Response Guide for Police Agencies

To help address these challenges, the Homelessness Response Guide provides a problem-solving framework based on data, partnerships, and local conditions. The guide encourages law enforcement agencies to:

• Build a clear understanding of homelessness in their community using available data, such as police records, Homelessness Management Information System data, 311 calls, and partner information.
• Ask hard but necessary questions about who is most affected, where interactions happen, and how current responses impact both individuals and the community.
• Invest in strong partnerships with housing providers, health services, outreach teams, and social service agencies, recognizing that no single organization can solve the problem alone.
• Consider specialized homelessness outreach teams made up of experienced officers with strong communication skills and patience—or, for smaller agencies, one or two well-trained officers focused on this work.

The guide also presents a research-based menu of law enforcement responses to homelessness. These responses range from outreach and relationship-building to de-escalation, prevention, and, when needed, law enforcement action. Throughout the guide, the focus is on using discretion and matching responses to individual needs and community expectations.

A Menu of Responses

The guide does not claim there is one “best” law enforcement response to homelessness. The evidence base is not strong enough to support a single solution, and what works will vary by community. Instead, the menu offers a starting point for agencies seeking thoughtful and flexible approaches. Proactive responses, which are the most common, include:

• Outreach and coordination with service providers
• Prevention and safeguarding
• Laissez-faire approaches (a more hands-off response)
• Altruistic actions, such as buying food for someone

Reactive responses usually occur after a call for service or complaint and include:

• De-escalation support
• “Parenting” responses, such as verbal warnings about known behaviors and possible consequences
• Law enforcement actions, including arrest
• Partner inquiries, such as assisting another agency trying to locate an unhoused person

Because there are no national standards, agencies must clearly define what success looks like and measure whether their responses are working. This means tracking more than arrests or citations. Agencies should also track service referrals, repeat contacts, victimization reporting, and the strength of partnerships with community organizations.

Navigating a Changing Legal Landscape

The legal rules around homelessness and policing continue to change. In 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson changed how courts interpret the Eighth Amendment in these cases. However, this decision did not remove all legal limits. Fourth Amendment protections, equal protection claims, disability rights laws, and state-level rules still shape how and when enforcement can occur.

For law enforcement agency leaders, following the law is necessary but not enough. Agencies must also consider how enforcement choices affect public trust, legitimacy, and long-term problem-solving—especially on an issue as visible and politically sensitive as homelessness.

Moving Forward

Homelessness highlights the limits of enforcement-based solutions. This response guide reinforces a key message: while officers are often the most visible responders, they are only one part of a broader system. Effective responses are not about doing more policing. They are about better problem-solving.

By using data and working closely with service providers and community partners, law enforcement agencies can address the public safety aspects of chronic homelessness without becoming the main response system.

Key Takeaways for Agency Leaders

• Responding to chronic homelessness requires more than enforcement and more than officers acting alone.
• Homelessness is not a single issue. Chronic homelessness reflects breakdowns in housing, health care, behavioral health, and social support systems.
• A small number of chronically unsheltered individuals account for a large share of contacts with law enforcement, EMS, hospitals, and courts, making targeted problem-solving essential.
• Law enforcement agencies should be partners and facilitators, not the lead service providers.
• Strong partnerships with housing, health, outreach, and people with lived experience are essential.
• Enforcement-heavy approaches are costly and do not reduce homelessness or improve public safety.
• Success should be measured beyond arrests, including service connections, reduced repeat contacts, victimization prevention, and trust-building.

For more information, see the full Homelessness Response Guide.
Download the Seven Things to Know/Six Actions to Take guide document.