Impacts of Chico's Public Safety Approach to Homelessness: Initial Analyses (2017)
Creator
Jennifer Wilking
Department of Political Science
CSU
Department of Political Science
CSU
Susan Roll
School of Social Work
CSU
School of Social Work
CSU
David Philhour
Department of Psychology
College of BSS
CSU
Chico
Department of Psychology
College of BSS
CSU
Chico
Peter Hansen
Department of Geography
Geographic Information Center
CSU
Chico
Department of Geography
Geographic Information Center
CSU
Chico
Holly Nevarez
Department of Health and Community Services
CSU, Chico
Department of Health and Community Services
CSU, Chico
Date
May 2017
Description
This is a 25 page pdf study conducted by an interdisciplinary team of faculty and staff at CSU Chico. There is an executive summary on page 24-25.
Municipalities around the country are increasingly concerned about a rise in homelessness. While there are various approaches to this issue, many cities are using public safety laws and resources to mitigate the effects of a growing homeless population. The analyses contained in this report examine the costs of these ordinances, as well as other implications, such as the geography of arrests.
The analyses contained in this report examine the costs of these ordinances, as well as other implications, such as the geography of arrests. In the analysis, we focus on the sit-lie ordinance and its implementation (December 19, 2013), mainly due to the high level of public and media attention surrounding the ordinance. We focus exclusively on the implications and costs borne by the City of Chico’s Police Department. Other agencies, such as the Butte County Sherriff’s Office also incur substantial costs entailed with policing the homeless population.
To understand the law enforcement implications, we employ a natural experiment comparing law enforcement data preceding and following enforcement of the sit-lie ordinance. Specifically, we explored arrests and citations data between Jan. 1, 2010 and June 30, 2016, with enforcement of sit-lie occurring on December 19, 2013. Over the specified period 26.5% of the arrests in the data are associated with individuals experiencing homelessness.
Municipalities around the country are increasingly concerned about a rise in homelessness. While there are various approaches to this issue, many cities are using public safety laws and resources to mitigate the effects of a growing homeless population. The analyses contained in this report examine the costs of these ordinances, as well as other implications, such as the geography of arrests.
The analyses contained in this report examine the costs of these ordinances, as well as other implications, such as the geography of arrests. In the analysis, we focus on the sit-lie ordinance and its implementation (December 19, 2013), mainly due to the high level of public and media attention surrounding the ordinance. We focus exclusively on the implications and costs borne by the City of Chico’s Police Department. Other agencies, such as the Butte County Sherriff’s Office also incur substantial costs entailed with policing the homeless population.
To understand the law enforcement implications, we employ a natural experiment comparing law enforcement data preceding and following enforcement of the sit-lie ordinance. Specifically, we explored arrests and citations data between Jan. 1, 2010 and June 30, 2016, with enforcement of sit-lie occurring on December 19, 2013. Over the specified period 26.5% of the arrests in the data are associated with individuals experiencing homelessness.
Coverage
City of Chico - California
Publisher
Language
English
Format
PDF
Collection
Citation
Jennifer Wilking
Department of Political Science
CSU
et al., “Impacts of Chico's Public Safety Approach to Homelessness: Initial Analyses (2017),” I4E: Housing4All Digital Library, accessed May 8, 2024, https://i4e.omeka.net/items/show/17.
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