Surveillance and Criminalization of People Experiencing Homelessness

Sophia M. Orsinelli University of California, Santa Cruz

Hyper-Policing and Criminalization

People experiencing homelessness are the targets of classist stigmatization, surveillance, and criminalization, all which contribute to food insecurity and housing precarity (Anthony et al., 2024; Bullock, 2013; Welsh & Adbel-Samad, 2018). When asked about experiences of hyper-policing, participants experiencing homelessness in Anthony and colleagues’ (2024) study reported being called “junkies,” “no hopers,” “uneducated,” and “criminals” by police officers, and believed that police interfered with their lives “because of where they slept and how they looked, rather than what they did,” describing this stigma and surveillance as “an ongoing constraint on their freedom” (p. 610). Ultimately, this stigmatization contributes to the criminalization of people experiencing homelessness, prompting people who are housed to equate homelessness with crime (Walsh, 2007; Young & Petty, 2019).

While many cities claim that homelessness itself is not a crime, it is common for many life-sustaining activities of people experiencing homelessness to be criminalized, including spending time in public space and camping or sleeping in parks (Welsh & Abdel-Samad, 2018). Being cited with fines for everyday behaviors compounds the already fragile economic instability of people experiencing homelessness. Hardship is also deepened by widespread “sweeps” of homeless encampments, which involve the forcible displacement of unhoused people ostensibly so cities can rebrand themselves as “safe” for tourists and wealthy residents (Welsh & Abdel-Samad, 2018). If not present with their belongings, these items may be discarded by the city (Welsh & Abdel-Samad, 2018). A woman who was checking on her Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits when the city swept her street observed:

They’ve never hit that street before… I had no idea it was going to happen. I lost all of my clothes… The only thing they saved was my tent and my medicine, those are the two easiest to replace. The clothing I needed for [a] job… They said it was soiled. I said, ‘It was not soiled.’ (Welsh & Abdel-Samad, 2018, p. 42)

This violence against people experiencing homelessness makes it clear that the comfort of economically privileged groups is placed above the safety and respect of people experiencing homelessness, deepening the challenges of accessing services.

Surveillance by Housed Neighbors

People experiencing homelessness are also surveilled and criminalized by their neighbors (Amster, 2003). “Quality of life” campaigns call for the removal of unhoused people from public view, often under the guise of concern for “health and safety” (Amster, 2003). Many cities have direct resources for reporting violations of so-called “civility laws.” For example, a government website calls for reports of “homeless tents and other structures in San Francisco for removal,” encouraging community members to fill out an online form or call non-emergency police (City and County of San Francisco., n.d.). These reporting practices, along with fines for sleeping in public parks, contribute to “the privatization of public space” (Mitchell, 1997; Mitchell, 2011). Urban spaces such as parks, sidewalks, and alleys are not truly for the public, but rather for those deemed to be “deserving” of occupying them (Mitchell, 1997; Mitchell, 2011). Stereotypes about homelessness and the formalization of methods to surveil and report people experiencing homelessness to cities, perpetuates the criminalizing and “othering” of people experiencing homelessness and discourages utilizing safety net programs.

A Call for Policy Change

Surveillance of people experiencing poverty is motivated by classist stereotypes and individual attributions for poverty. Interventions that include surveillance of economically marginalized groups are often justified by prioritizing public “health and safety” or by being for the surveilled groups’ “own good.” An adoption of structural attributions for poverty is necessary to inform policy change. An additional acknowledgement that welfare policies are often created by the white middle class and therefore place judgement on anyone who exists outside of this norm is necessary.

To address the intense surveillance of unhoused people, “quality of life” policing tactics must be reassessed. These practices target loitering, panhandling, sleeping in public parks, littering, and obstructing sidewalks, among other behaviors that essentially criminalize homelessness (Welsh & Abdel-Samad, 2018). These policies clearly prioritize the comfort of housed people at the expense of people experiencing homelessness. Many unhoused people interviewed by Anthony and colleagues (2024) reported the desire to be left alone by the police and a desire for community based support systems in place of the police. Defunding the police and reallocating funds to affordable housing and community based redistributive centers and mental health services would address some of these concerns.