Howard was rather blunt with me, discussing at
length what he perceived to be a dichotomy within the homeless population. He
distinguished between those who had fallen on financial hardships and those
with severe mental disabilities, the former typically made up of persons who
actively work towards bettering their circumstances because they have fallen on
hard times. I would imagine the “typical” homeless student falls under this
category. However, Howard mentioned, sadly, that as a police officer, most of
his interactions with the homeless were with those with mental disabilities.
When I think about a police officer interacting with
a homeless person, the first images that come to mind are of a person ranting
and raving, or asking for money or even loitering in front of a shop, with the
owner ranting and raving for the person to leave. However, Howard added to this
perception by informing me that police officers would, for instance, sometimes
get a call to a homeless family living out of their car. In these cases, it was
not uncommon for one or more of the officers to pitch in some money to help the
couple get a room for the night or even get some food. Before my interview with
Howard, I have heard of instances like this, but never carried out to the
extent he was describing it as. He made it seem like this was routine. It is
interesting to note that a way for police officers to congratulate one another
in situations like the one discussed is by making light of the situation. “It
was not uncommon for other officers to hear about a good deed one of us had done
and give them a ribbing the next day,” Howard explained. “But, it wasn’t
malicious at all,” he added. “It was a way of acknowledging the person did a
good thing.”
Howard left me with the impression that the people
he worked with were very kind and understanding of homeless people. Coming into
this interview, I had very different ideas about how police officers treated the
homeless, crediting this interpretation thanks in part to the media and the
environment I grew up in; also, I, like everyone, tend to fill in any lack of
knowledge with misconceptions. It takes education to reverse this process, and
I would like to think that is what I have done here.
As I think about my
future and my career in Higher Education, it will be important for me to keep
in mind the different services students can look to for help. Hearing all the
good Howard and police officers like him have done for the homeless, well, I
will definitely be less skeptical to recommend their services should the need
arise.
