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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Hate crime and violence against some of the most vulnerable members of our society, our homeless neighbors, continue to persist and have increased across the country over the past year.  Since 1999, the National Coalition for the Homeless has been tracking the epidemic of violent and brutal attacks against homeless persons.  In our first joint report on the topic, the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty have documented how this growing trend has played out in 2007.

Homeless persons are particularly vulnerable to violent attacks when they are living outside in public spaces.  Most of our communities do not have adequate affordable housing or shelter space to meet the need, leaving many homeless persons forced to live outside.  In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 44% of our homeless population is unsheltered. Without proper action to deal with the crisis of homelessness as a whole, our homeless neighbors will continue to be vulnerable to brutal attacks.

While some cities and states have taken positive steps to address hate crime and violence against homeless persons, many cities around the country continue to dehumanize homeless persons by enacting and enforcing laws that criminalize their homeless status.  Many laws, such as those that restrict sleeping, sitting, storing property, and asking for money in public, send a message to society that homeless people are not human, do not deserve respect, and that attacks against them will not be taken seriously.   

Samplings of the headlines in the case narrative section of this report say it all:

·      Homeless Man Beaten To Death (January) – Haverhill, MA

·      Homeless Man Murdered and Scattered Around the City (February) – San Diego, CA

·      Homeless Man Stabbed with a Sword (March) – Oakland, CA

·      Beating from 17-Year-Old and Two 10-Year-Olds Sent Homeless Man to Hospital (March) – Daytona Beach, FL

·      Police Call the Murder of a Homeless Man a “Thrill Killing” (May) – Tulsa, OK

·      Inspired By “Bumfights”: Four Teens Have Been Terrorizing Homeless People and Recording Video Footage on Their Cell Phones to Post as Videos on the Internet (July) – Los Angeles, CA

·      Homeless Man’s Blanket Set on Fire while Sleeping (November) – Philadelphia, PA

With the probable exception of homicide and fire-setting figures, the figures for other victimizations likely do not represent the full extent of the problem.  Many attacks against homeless persons go unreported and are thus are likely many times higher than the actual numbers presented here.  Nonetheless, hundreds of homeless persons have been attacked and some killed over the past nine years. 

Since 1999,

  • 774 violent acts have been perpetrated against homeless individuals across the country in a variety of communities.
  • These attacks occurred in 235 cities throughout our country, in 45 states and Puerto Rico.
  • 217 homeless people have been killed, as a result of attacks ranging from being beaten to being set on fire and other atrocious acts.

The victims have endured humiliations both great and small and the injuries they sustained created not only physical pain and scars, but also the crippling effects of wounded self-esteem and dignity of the human spirit.

Attacks against homeless persons have increased in 2007.  Throughout 2007,

  • 160 homeless persons were violently attacked and
  • 28 of those 160 persons were killed as a result of those attacks

The number of attacks in 2007 rose from the number of attacks in 2006:

  • The total number of attacks rose by 13% from 2006 to 2007 – from 142 attacks to 160 attacks.
  • The number of attacks resulting in death rose by 40% from 2006 to 2007 – from 20 deaths to 28 deaths.
  • The number of non-lethal attacks rose by 8% from 2006 to 2007 – from 122 non-lethal attacks to 132 non-lethal attacks.

The perpetrators of these violent attacks against homeless people tend to be younger men or boys.  The majority of crimes were committed by teens and youths as young as ten-years-old. Of the known attackers in 2007,

  • 64% were youths between age 13 and 19;
  • An overwhelming 86% of the accused and convicted were 25 and under;
  • Some of the attackers repeatedly cited their motive of attack as boredom, committing the crimes for the “thrill” or “fun,” because the victim is homeless, or perhaps even more harrowing, because they simply “can.”

While we may not know or understand the motive for all of the attacks documented in the report, some of these attacks seem to be perpetrated due to bias against the victims because they were homeless.  In addition, the perpetrators’ characteristics, motive, and weaponry are very similar to perpetrators who commit hate crime against all other hate crime victim groups.  Regardless of whether the motive of the perpetrators was that of opportunity or of bias against homeless persons, homeless persons continue to remain particularly vulnerable victims due to the nature of homelessness.

While these attacks happened all across the country and in many states, some states stand out in having a significant number of incidents.

  • Florida leads all states with the greatest number of attacks – 31.
  • California came in second with 22 attacks.
  • Nevada came in third with 14 attacks.
  • Ohio came in fourth with 13 attacks.

With this growing problem becoming more and more apparent in communities around the country, some states, cities, and advocacy groups are doing something positive to address the issue.

  • California passed a law in 2004 mandating police officer training on hate crimes against homeless persons, particularly those with disabilities.
  • Maine passed a law in 2005 that allows judges to take into consideration a victim’s homeless status when considering sentencing for the offender.
  • A statewide public education project in Florida to educate people about homelessness was initiated by the National Coalition for the Homeless in conjunction with AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteers.
  • The Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust has created a curriculum/video about homelessness that is played in schools throughout the county to give young people a greater understanding of homelessness.

 

In addition, several legislative initiatives are currently underway to address this growing problem.

  • Two bills have been introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 2216 and H.R. 2217, by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson to add homeless persons to two existing federal hate crimes laws.
  • Bills to add homeless persons as a protected class to state hate crime statutes are currently being considered in Massachusetts, Ohio, and Alaska.

Even though the trend of violence against homeless persons has risen over the past decade, there are steps that we can take to put an end to this terrible trend.  Advocates, service providers, policymakers, and members of the public can take a stand by:

  • Supporting H.R. 2216 and H.R. 2217, the two bills before the U.S. House of Representatives that would add homeless status to the Hate Crimes Statistics Act and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act.
  • Supporting state legislative efforts to add homeless persons as a protected class to state hate crime statutes.
  • Initiating police trainings to help law enforcement officers better understand homelessness in general and how to prevent and manage hate crime against homeless persons.
  • Engaging in public education initiatives in schools to educate young people about homelessness and to humanize homeless neighbors.
  • Advocating against city measures that criminalize homelessness and for more constructive approaches to homelessness.
  • Advocating for more affordable housing and permanent supportive housing to bring an end to homelessness for those homeless members of our communities.