Policing of Homelessness and Opportunities for Reform in Montreal

Abstract

Police in North America face a public crisis of confidence and pressure to reduce interactions with socially vulnerable persons, such as people experiencing homelessness. Police contact with homeless persons, however, is driven in part by structural and policy factors beyond officers’ control, as well as demand from some members of the public. In this qualitative study, we examine police officers’ understanding of the causes of homelessness, their role in policing homeless persons, and their attitudes towards reform. Data were collected from 24 officers in Montreal via semi-structured interviews. Our results uncover evidence that officers understand the structural roots of homelessness, despite pathologizing some homeless persons they interact with. Though officers express support for expanding opportunities for housing and the role of non-profit organizations, they do not imagine a world without policing of persons experiencing homelessness. Finally, they express a strong sense that the public drive most police–homeless interactions and even constrain opportunities for non-punitive interactions.