The City of Gainesville has seen a recent increase in the number of homeless people in the area.
Not including people housed in extended stays or living in their cars, there are over 150 accounted for homeless people in the city of Gainesville.
Gainesville City Police Chief Jay Parrish spoke on WDUN’s Morning on Maine Street about the homeless population in the area and the things the police are witnessing on the front lines.
“There are also hotels and I think that's where a lot of our children that are homeless, as far as the school system is concerned, are in those categories,” Parrish said. “You can go to some of our hotels along Jesse Jewell Parkway in the morning and afternoon, and see the bus drop off there. It's a little bit heartbreaking.”
According to Parish, non-profits such as the Salvation Army, Good News at Noon, My Sister's Place and North Georgia Works offer good homeless programs. However, because of mental health and substance abuse issues going on in homelessness camps, there is a huge population that is not ready to take the step to get into the programs.
Another issue the police have noted is there is a sort of hierarchy within the encampments. There are people that guard the area and make the rules.
“We've had a couple of homicides inside these camps. And when you get down to the motive, it comes down to the Enforcer didn't like what was going on,” Parrish said.
The female population, in particular, does not report crimes as often such as sexual assault. According to Parrish, homelessness is not an issue that can be solved only by policing.
“It's a community issue. I think it's going to take private and public partnerships between government and different nonprofit entities to come up with some viable solutions,” Parrish said.
You can listen to the full interview with Parrish at the Soundcloud link above.
