As Austin’s downtown entertainment district continues to grow, so does the worry of increased crime.

To try and combat this crime increase, Austin Police Department, APD, created the Public Order Initiative to crack down on violent crime and property violations. Unfortunately, their main target was downtown’s homeless population.

Like most major cities, homelessness is a reality. Homelessness should be met with understanding and innovation, rather than by criminalizing the victims.

“All the ordinances like this do is stack more things on homeless people that they can’t pay,” said Ken Martin, executive director at Texas Homeless Network. “I think the criminalization of homelessness is not the way to go.”

Downtown entertainment districts like Sixth Street are in close proximity to shelters like Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, or ARCH, which serves not only the homeless but also refugees and low-income families. 

Local businesses are complaining of rowdy behavior from some homeless individuals, and in return APD is pushing this initiative.

At this point in Austin’s growth cycle, it is implausible to relocate either the entertainment district or the homeless shelters.

ARCH has been operating in downtown since 2004, and was partially funded by the City of Austin. 

To move it to another location would leave a lot of homeless in greater need of temporary shelter, food and other resources than they already are.

“The city built ARCH, and if the didn’t want homeless people there, why did they build it there in the first place?” Martin said.

Furthermore, it would be impossible to create a new venue or part of town that can draw in as many people as Sixth Street does every weekend. 

Since Sixth Street is a large identifier for Austin, local government should not totally banish the less fortunate to make way for everyone else.

The better solution for lowering crime rates in downtown is to create ways for both homeless people and entertainment-goers to remain peaceful and respectful. Targeting only the homeless will not help.

Increased police officer presence during downtown’s busiest hours would be benefical, but they should be there to keep the peace and not to arrest.

Another helpful strategy might be to increase capacity at downtown shelters, or to create new ones.

“We’ve proven over and over that what works to get people off the streets is to provide permanent supportive housing,” Martin said.

Instead of helping create a dialogue about how to decrease homelessness in Austin, this Public Order Initiative will create a false stereotype that all homeless people are violent or disruptive.

The Public Order Initiative is not a bad idea in theory, but if it is carried out to just target the homeless, it is unfair and unbalanced.