Save $2, Spend $58,000
The Times is reporting about undercover officers who arrest homeless people who can't pay the $2 fair to get to a shelter, outside of Manhattan.
I'll say I have no real problem ridding the streets of homeless folks by arresting them: after all, in jail they will recieve a warm bed and food. In many cases, they'll also get access to amenities like prison libraries.
However, in this particular case, it seems the police are conspiring only to spend taxpayer dollars. The folks they are arresting are merely going to a shelter designated by the city, presumably in a location the city chose outside of Manhattan.
One source I found cites the cost of holding prisoners around $58,000 per person in New York's Riker's island. the national average is I believe closer to $40,000 / $42,000 a year.
So instead of arresting the homeless people and throwing them into a system that costs tens of thousands of dollars to jail them [not to mention the cost of the investigation and undercover police, or the cost to the court system], why not use the money to pay the MTA the projected cost of homeless people who hop on buses for free. Ultimately, the bill to taxpayers would be lower, and the police would be free to actually go after real criminals: like taxi cabs that run red lights.
In either case, as much as I would like to see the homeless wiped from the streets of New York and sent out to the sprawl of suburbia [wouldn't that be a great April Fool's day joke?], arresting them is costing more than letting them skip out on the bus fair.
I'll say I have no real problem ridding the streets of homeless folks by arresting them: after all, in jail they will recieve a warm bed and food. In many cases, they'll also get access to amenities like prison libraries.
However, in this particular case, it seems the police are conspiring only to spend taxpayer dollars. The folks they are arresting are merely going to a shelter designated by the city, presumably in a location the city chose outside of Manhattan.
One source I found cites the cost of holding prisoners around $58,000 per person in New York's Riker's island. the national average is I believe closer to $40,000 / $42,000 a year.
So instead of arresting the homeless people and throwing them into a system that costs tens of thousands of dollars to jail them [not to mention the cost of the investigation and undercover police, or the cost to the court system], why not use the money to pay the MTA the projected cost of homeless people who hop on buses for free. Ultimately, the bill to taxpayers would be lower, and the police would be free to actually go after real criminals: like taxi cabs that run red lights.
In either case, as much as I would like to see the homeless wiped from the streets of New York and sent out to the sprawl of suburbia [wouldn't that be a great April Fool's day joke?], arresting them is costing more than letting them skip out on the bus fair.
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