Homelessness Epidemic In San Diego (to live, legal, bus)

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

People are complaining .

Yes! They are!

And they've been given a free place to do it here! They can complain until they choke on it and have an aneurism and it won't interfere with anyone's walk along the Embarcadero!

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

People are complaining about the number of homeless downtown. The beach ban had a direct link to the amount of homeless downtown. The beaches were patrolled endlessly by SDPD to keep the tourists from freaking out. Downtown side streets, not so much.

Sounds to me like a clever way for the PD to get the City Council to increase their overtime budget, send a bunch of cops out to do what amounts to nothing, chasing bums off the beach and threatening a bunch of ordinary working people with arrest who had the audacity to think that it might be nice to have a brewski on the beach.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

Sounds to me like a clever way for the PD to get the City Council to increase their overtime budget, send a bunch of cops out to do what amounts to nothing, chasing bums off the beach and threatening a bunch of ordinary working people with arrest who had the audacity to think that it might be nice to have a brewski on the beach.

Clever cop'ers. Who said all they do is eat donuts!

[JohnS_15]

Some good discussion points on this thread. And some great input by several posters. One thing that I think is important (and I don't think well known) that Tulemutt brought up is the huge amount of money and resources that homeless individuals can cost communities.

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

On this issue, there's the bleeding heart liberals, the heartlessly self-absorbed judgementalists - and then there's a couple of actually informed posters who recognize that one-size does not fit all...

One poster here previously expressed outrage at having read that the average homeless cost his/her community $40,000 annually. It varies from place to place in amount, but it's true that the figures are always VERY high. But guess what? The story is really far worse. Because it's only about 20%, the chronic, that are using most of those dollars in emergency and legal enforcement and services. Some individuals have cost their communities literally in excess of a $ million bucks in one year. (! True!).

If you are a person who gets your jollies out of ranting that we shouldn't give nobody nothing for free because you were a paper boy and earned your way right through college and everybody else should do the same - then you can live with stepping in human excrement on the streets. Take your pick.

I have some friends that work as EMTs and fire fighters. You wouldn't believe the amount of their day to day work that involves treating and dealing with homeless - many of who are the same individuals they see again and again. If someone is complaining of chest pain or is unconscious and unresponsive there are automatic procedures where they get admitted to a hospital through emergency rooms. This gives them a warm bed and a meal for the night and they know this and play to it. This is unbelievably costly to society when those individuals have no insurance and no ability to pay.

For those who are advocates of not providing for the homeless in the hopes that no "handouts" will spur them into "helping themselves" - I imagine these costs would further increase. You pay for those emergency services costs whether you know it or not...through your medical insurance and through the medical bills and through the taxes within your community. Or maybe we should not treat homeless individuals who collapse and require medical attention on our streets?

[The Flying Dutchman]

John - Because most taxpayers are selfish.

[Julianpieohmy]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

Thanks to the multiple posters who just sent me positive rep messages but didn't identify themselves. And thanks Julian for your open positive evaluation.

I'll just add one thing more:

Think of homelessness as a symptom, not a disease. It has many causes. No single medication is a universal cure.

Something I would like to say, even though it does not come across in my posts, is that generation-wide issues do not apply to everyone in each generation.

Mr. Tulemutt is clearly aware and sensitive to the issue at hand, while some of these other posters are beyond clueless. To some extent the stereotypes of both generations are true, good and bad. However, I would like to say that both Tulemutt and I do not fall into the bad stereotypes of our respective generations. Tulemutt understands the reality of the homeless situation and speaks knowledgeably of the topic. It was unfair (and definitely not meant to be personal) to direct frustration at any one person, especially one who clearly knows what they are talking about.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by JohnS_15

Some good discussion points on this thread. And some great input by several posters. One thing that I think is important (and I don't think well known) that Tulemutt brought up is the huge amount of money and resources that homeless individuals can cost communities.



I have some friends that work as EMTs and fire fighters. You wouldn't believe the amount of their day to day work that involves treating and dealing with homeless - many of who are the same individuals they see again and again. If someone is complaining of chest pain or is unconscious and unresponsive there are automatic procedures where they get admitted to a hospital through emergency rooms. This gives them a warm bed and a meal for the night and they know this and play to it. This is unbelievably costly to society when those individuals have no insurance and no ability to pay.

For those who are advocates of not providing for the homeless in the hopes that no "handouts" will spur them into "helping themselves" - I imagine these costs would further increase. You pay for those emergency services costs whether you know it or not...through your medical insurance and through the medical bills and through the taxes within your community. Or maybe we should not treat homeless individuals who collapse and require medical attention on our streets?

Check this out.

Paramedic team redirects most-frequent 911 users | SanDiegoUnionTribune.com

Then they abided his rights and sent him on his way, despite an estimated $537,000 worth of emergency medical services incurred over the years for this lone, wheelchair-bound homeless man

[moved]

You must have a subscription to the UT, because you can't read the articles without them.

[Tulemutt]

Opened for me.

[moved]

This is what I get:


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