San Francisco and other cities, following a Supreme Court ruling, are arresting more homeless people for living on the streets

Research shows that arresting someone without a home for sitting, resting or sleeping in a public place does not reduce homelessness. Instead, encampment sweeps and camping bans typically displace people from one area to another, while discarding or destroying their personal belongings in the process, such as identification cards, medications and sleeping gear. This approach also wastes public resources by paying groups to throw away people’s belongings instead of investing that money into actual housing solutions, like creating more affordable housing options. Above: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, MSW, visits the site of a city-led sweep of a homeless encampment