Dear Editor,
On October 8, the City of Kingman will hold a town hall to discuss “Crime and Homelessness.” This topic was originally presented in a public online survey as “Crime/Homelessness.” These two social issues are distinct challenges. Approaching homelessness through a lens of criminality creates criminality where there is none.
Those without shelter deserve a stable place to live, and the Kingman community deserves a holistic, outcomes-focused approach to meet the challenges we face. We have neighbors in Kingman working two jobs who cannot afford rent. They live in their cars or bounce from couch to couch. We have neighbors in Kingman living with mental illnesses. They do not have the healthcare they need or other building blocks of a dignified life. And they are homeless.
Law enforcement cannot be the catchall for our social problems. It’s not fair to emergency responders or taxpayers. Homelessness cannot be solved with arrest, fines, or imprisonment. Punishment is destabilizing, knocking down any progress someone has made in their work, social, and financial life.
We cannot continue to rely on religious and community organizations as the only source of help for people who are homeless. These good Samaritans don’t have the capacity or stable funding for this structural problem, and some have restrictions on who they will serve. I urge the people and the City of Kingman and Mohave County governments to recognize that homelessness comes before crime, and we need to address the affordable housing shortage and lack of services in our community.
Erin Roper
