Police Responses to Homelessness: The Current State of the Field

Monday, October 21, 2024

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM ET

Location: 205C

Submitter and Speaker(s)

Natalie K. Hipple, Ph.D.

Professor and Chair
Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana, United States

Speaker(s)

Kayla Allison, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Univeristy of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR, Arkansas, United States
Maris Herold

Colonel, DOJ Law Enforcement Knowledge Lab/Chief of Police (Ret.)
Boulder (CO) Police Department
Boulder, Colorado, United States
Tabatha McLemore

Lieutentant, Homeless Outreach Unit
Indianapolis (IN) Metropolitan Police Department
Indiananpolis, Indiana, United States
Nate Schwiethale

Patrol Officer, Homeless Outreach Team
Wichita (KS) Police Department
Wichita, Kansas, United States
Rex Troche

Chief of Police
Sarasota (FL) Police Department
Sarasota, Florida, United States

How and why individuals experience homelessness in the United States depends heavily on the geographic location. Indeed, responses to people experiencing homelessness must be tailored to the local context. However, there is no set of national standards informing police responses to people experiencing homelessness from which police can draw and customize. Therefore, police agencies and their government and community partners are left to finding solutions through trial and error. This panel will present findings from a federally funded study that sought to identify policing responses to homelessness. It will also include a discussion around legal issues related to responding to people who are unhoused. Chiefs of police and homeless outreach team members will discuss the implications.