[meg88]

'A week ago, a tent city up the street that was home to about 150 people was dismantled peaceably. Some of the 150 received rent vouchers; other homeless people accepted mats at a homeless shelter; still others took gasoline money or bus fare to return to out-of-state relatives or friends.'

Where are all of these freebies for working citizens?

[agooga]

We should eat the homeless.

Unfortunately, the flesh is too tough and salty.

[_Jim]

Where are all of these freebies for working citizens?

Firstly, I hate camping or anything resembling camping (in particular, sleeping under a tent on hard or lumpy ground) so I don't feel I could ever opt for these kind of freebies ...

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

The police are the armed extension of the government. What the government tells them to do, they do. Keeping innocent people safe from criminals is not part of their job. Enforcing the administration's policies is.

[Star Traveler]

Take a look here about Dignity Village in Portland, Oregon --


http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/West/02/27/portland.homeless.ap/index.html

http://www.outofthedoorways.org/

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/05/318134.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Tafari

Apparently the "homeless" are politically active, too...

Regards,
Star Traveler

[SIDENET]

Gosh, remember those 8 years under Clinton where the homeless ceased to exist?

[Rb ver. 2.0]

Destroying private property without paying retribution seems to be a growing police practice these days.

[Lady Jag]

Sounds more like St. Petersburg Russia than St. Petersburg Florida!

[Mashood]

A bus ticket to Key West, and have a barrier on the freeway preventing them back onto the mainland. House the whole homeless population out there...and wait for a huricane.

[HaveHadEnough]

Half of the dozen remaining tents were confiscated; the others were slashed to render them unusable, Harmon said.

Whatever you do to the least of these, you do unto me.

[spunkets]

'Half of the dozen remaining tents were confiscated; the others were slashed to render them unusable, Harmon said."

The cops should all be arrested for destruction of property.

"Harmon said officers had legal authority to confiscate or destroy the tents because they are allowed to remove a hazard that lies on a right of way, which is city property."

They had no legal authority to do so. They had authority to arrest the vagrants maybe, not destroy and steal their property.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Be quicker to offer them all jobs. You'll never see them again. ;)

[Centurion2000]

Criminy, could we get something like this started here?

[csvset]

I guess they could have put the tents in deep freeze rather than slashing them.

BERKELEY Carts stay cool as city takes heat on storage policy When the homeless lose or abandon stuff, it gets frozen

[JZoback]

A week ago, a tent city up the street that was home to about 150 people was dismantled peaceably. Some of the 150 received rent vouchers; other homeless people accepted mats at a homeless shelter; still others took gasoline money or bus fare to return to out-of-state relatives or friends.

I'm a little surprised at the responses posted These people are breaking the law

[festus]

Some people also smoked inside the tents,

Oh well. Now we know the reason for the abrubt resolution ;-)

[HardStarboard]

>>>"The intent was not to arrest anyone," Harmon said. "The problems weren't the people. It was the tents.<<<<

Typical "Community Policing" orthodox BS! Its never the perp.;

The bartender shouldn't have served the drunk driver that last drink...

Its not the shooter, its the easy availability of guns that is the problem...

Detroit makes it too easy to steal cars...

Its the tents...not the lazy no-goods that inhabit them.

[GOP Poet]

A cat-and-mouse game between the city and its burgeoning homeless population took on a confrontational tone Friday as about two dozen officers swooped down on 15th Street North and either confiscated or destroyed a dozen tents in which homeless people had been living.

If it is not legal to camp, the police can do whatever they need to to chase the people out. Especially when they are knowingly violating the law.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

"the man, who gave only a first name of Mo(pbuh),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Old Professer]

"Another spot for the displaced tent dwellers was beside busy Martin Luther King Jr. Street."

Marked on every tourist map from Albany to Zanesville...

[dawn53]

This whole homeless tent city is the brainchild of a Rev. Bruce Wright.

He got people to donate the tents, in an attempt to set up a tent city and confront the city on the situation of the homeless.

The homeless in downtown St. Pete has been a huge problem because they flock to the city in the winter and disrupt downtown businesses. The are sanitation issues and property rights issues as they congregate downtown.

So this Rev. decided he was going to make a name for himself by "standing up" for the homeless. He's basically the instigator behind all the trouble. They even have picket lines of homeless demanding more "rights" in downtown St. Pete at the main entertainment complexes.

Here's the blog about the organization behind all the hub bub and organization of the homeless.

http://stpeteforpeace.org/tentcity.html

From the Rev.'s Bio: the groups he is affiliated with

He is a member in the following organizations: NAADAC, Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign, Critical Resistance, Every Church a Peace Church, League of Revolutionaries for a New America, St. Pete. For Peace, Food Not Bombs, Pinellas County Coalition for the Homeless, Homeless Legal Defense Fund, Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council, St. Pete. Task Force on Homelessness, and the St. Petersburg Ministerial Association

http://www.pcpf.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=220&Itemid=46