Sunday, October 07, 2007

Homeless Program

Crime & Consequences (October 5, 2007) comments on a story about a homeless program apparently based on the old Matrix program of Police Chief Jordan as San Francisco tries to find something that works.

Homeless Crackdown: With a plan that looks remarkably like former Mayor Frank Jordan's Matrix Program from the early 1990s, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom plans to reduce littering, vagrancy and other public order offenses as reported in this AP story. Like Matrix, police and social workers will be patrolling the city for derelicts and removing them to service providers. Those who don't cooperate can be cited and jailed. The Matrix Program, and a similar effort in New York, reduced crime and made both cities more hospitable to local residents and tourists.