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Compassion, safety and quality of life are the principles guiding Plantation’s approach to homelessness. We have assigned two police officers to address many facets pertaining to our homeless population and we have directed all Plantation law enforcement to work with them.
Officer Marlyne Casimir works the day shift and Officer Courtney Fish works the night shift as homeless outreach officers. By being specifically dedicated to engaging with our homeless population, the officers hope to get to know each person. That gives us a better chance of finding a way to help improve their situations.
Several other Plantation officers and detectives are members of the Multi-Agency Homeless Taskforce (MAHT), sharing ideas and best practices to assist, where possible.
But let’s not kid ourselves: This challenge is not going away.
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Trespass program for businesses
Residents have rightfully expressed concerns about a growing homeless population in Plantation – a challenge shared by many other Broward cities – so I thought I’d take a minute to spell out what action we can take. Allow me to reiterate: we must balance compassion with public safety and a get-tough approach, lest we become one of those cities with tents everywhere. (Los Angeles, San Francisco, etc.) We all know that.
We also know that it’d be great to have a tested and proven solution to this persistent challenge that could be executed with the snap of a finger. But no one in Broward, nor in Florida, nor in the United States, has one.
Our Police Department consults regularly with me and my administration. I’m going to spend a couple of paragraphs here on current efforts, but the real question is what we will be doing after new state laws take effect Oct. 1, and what we can do proactively.
Our most prevalent method of operation currently is to encourage businesses to enroll in our “Trespass” program. Businesses post signs that enable law enforcement to require people languishing on private property to leave. Police Chief Howard Harrison cautions that public expectation often goes beyond what is legal.
“Being homeless is not a crime,” Harrison says.
That said, some residents have fears of panhandlers, petty thefts or worse. We rightly want to traverse our streets and sidewalks comfortably. (Note that our city statistics document minimal instances of aggressive panhandling, for what that’s worth. Additionally, on a very few occasions of crime involving unhoused individuals, it is sadly homeless on homeless crime.)
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New law coming
The situation changes statewide come Oct. 1. The Florida Legislature has approved laws against public camping and after Jan. 1, 2025, the city could be sued if individuals are found to be regularly sleeping overnight on public property. (HB 1365)
What happens next has been discussed at length in circles like mine. In fact, it was a seminar topic at last month’s Florida League of Cities conference, where elected officials gather to share best practices. (There also was a session on a very related topic: affordable housing.) Jacksonville, for example, has a $13 million proposal seeking “functional zero.” There would be a database of homeless, a list of hotels and their availability and a pilot village of 100 beds. We have the Broward Homelessness Initiative Partnership, which is employing some of those ideas.
The law permits the county to designate areas for public camping and sleeping if certain conditions are met, including implementing a safety plan and certifying that there is no available space at existing shelters. No community so far has stepped up, and Plantation has no plans for such a setup.
Hoping for small wins
One could view the state law as a placeholder toward a more permanent solution – which doesn’t exist right now. I tend to believe that, while much needed, just adding housing alone doesn’t solve the issue, although we clearly have a hole in our continuum of care.
Meanwhile, we are going to control the growth of our unsheltered population the best we can, be diligent about retaining public control and look for ways to experience a few small wins. I believe the grand fix for Plantation will be as part of a comprehensive county program. Working for the homeless throughout Broward gives us an economy of scale.
If you’ve read this far, you have realized we will be conducting ourselves with a level head. Still, if you have a concern about a homeless person, call Plantation Police at 954-797-2100.
Mayor Nick Sortal writes a regular newsletter to keep Plantation residents informed. Sign up by going to Plantation.org.
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