Social intervention squad: good or bad?

Morgan Lowrie has an interesting report here on one of the city’s social intervention squads but also reports on a negative statement about them from Ted Rutland’s group. Yes, the squads try to help the homeless – although there aren’t enough resources to go around. But, as Rutland says, their mandate pulls them in contradictory directions: “You can’t at the same time say, ‘I’m here to help you, you can trust me,’ and the next day show up to remove someone from a public space because you received a complaint.”

It feels like Lowrie had more to say on this topic but was constrained by word count. No journalist actually wants to say that society lacks the political will to provide enough resources for the homeless – you need a Ted Rutland to say that.

TVA reports on homeless people starting to camp at the doors of shelters.