On MSNBC, NYPD Commissioner Refutes Claims About New York's Homeless Population
NYPD's Bill Bratton: Police Aren't Ignoring The Homeless, They're Policing “Constitutionally”
Published
On the September 1 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, New York Police Department (NYPD) commissioner Bill Bratton corrected several mistaken claims previously forwarded by host Joe Scarborough -- namely, that the city's homeless population has suddenly increased and that police are being told to avoid engaging with the homeless. Bratton told Scarborough that the city has helped lower the number of homeless people sheltering in bus and train stations, and corrected his incorrect claim that police were “told to back off” the practice of detaining homeless New Yorkers and forcibly relocating them to shelters. Bratton said officers have simply been told to “police constitutionally” and pointed out that while police and other government agencies can offer services to the homeless, they cannot compel their compliance if they have not broken any law: