Folks from Denver Homeless Out Loud talk about the criminalization of homelessness on the Brew Theology podcast.

On how BIDs push for the criminalization of homelessness using Denver's urban camping ban and Downtown Denver Partnership as its primary example.

For a book-length treatment of this and similar issues, I recommend Randall Amster's _Lost In Space: The Criminalization, Globalization, and Urban Ecology of Homelessness_ (2008) which examines the role BIDs play in criminalizing homelessness using the struggles over the sit-lie ordinances in Tempe, AZ, as a case study.

"It is those same government-funded charities that push the narrative that “kindness kills” as they tout for your donations. Do not believe them. Apathy and austerity kill. Your kindness saves lives."

An investigation into the practices of private security at Denver's Union Station and 16th Street Mall after four guards beat a homeless man in the bathroom and then tried to cover it up.

An audio version read by the journalist is available: https://soundcloud.com/user-11498782/on-guard

Boulder police keep citing homeless people for charging their phones, but District Attorney Michael Dougherty refuses to prosecute the cases.

- 20% of renter households in Richmond were threatened with eviction in 2016
- Of those actually evicted, the median amount owed was $686
- Judgments issued in majority white neighborhoods were far less common
- Mr. Desmond’s eviction calculations are probably conservative: They include only households that touched the legal process, not those in which people moved with an informal warning

I just discovered this 2015 Westword article about the criminalization of homelessness by artist Lauri Lynnxe Murphy which includes a link to one of my weblog entries.

"the criminalization of public sleeping, as brought to Denver by Albus Brooks with the anti-camping ordinance, is spreading throughout municipalities like a cruel poison."

I was happy to discover that the "Urban Camping Ban" is a significant portion of the Wikipedia article on downtown Denver.

(I read this revision: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Downtown_Denver&oldid=743430248)

In one clip, Boyle criticizes an officer who had been telling homeless individuals that they have to take down their tents because it would be better for them to be in a shelter.

“Are you an expert in social change, or are you an expert in following orders?” asks Boyle, pointing his camera toward the officer in the cruiser.

The police officer bites his lip, then chuckles. “That’s not my job to change society,” the officer says.

“So then why are you giving advice [to the homeless].... Isn’t your job to be here and follow orders?” Boyle retorts.