#1 Los Angeles, CA
Fri, 08/07/2009 - 05:25 | 
Mark Targett
by National Coalition for the Homeless
According to a study by UCLA released in September 2007, Los Angeles was spending $6 million a year to pay for fifty extra police officers as part of its Safe City Initiative to crack down on crime in the Skid Row area at a time when the city budgeted only $5.7 million for homeless services.
Advocates found that during an 11-month period 24 people were arrested 201 times, with an estimated cost of $3.6 million for use of police, the jail system, prosecutors, public defenders and the courts. Advocates asserted that the money could have instead provided supportive housing for 225 people. Many of the citations issued to homeless persons in the Skid Row area were for jaywalking and loitering --“crimes” that rarely produce written citations in other parts of Los Angeles.
Tags: 
"We all have heard the pitch about how global warming is destroying the earth but many us do not believe it or don’t think they personally can do anything to help solve the problems. From this point on we thought of a motivator so people could start taking small steps all on their own that would eventually save them money in the long run. So we said lets use money as a motivator to help restore the earth we live in."
- Sean Cononie
Ridiculous
It makes me angry that cities pay more attention to homeless people being a threat then the fact that they need help.