MBTA riders can use a smartphone app to report anyone who looks like they might need help. Public transit keeps eye on homeless

It’s a familiar scene in every major city over the holidays, particularly when the temperatures drop — homeless men and women seeking some respite from the cold in public transit hubs.

Transit agencies have policies in place to walk the fine line between working as a social service and policing the homeless population.


For the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, that task falls on the Metro Transit Police Department. Ronald Pavlik, deputy chief of the MTPD, said officers keep an eye out for the homeless while on regular patrols. After Thanksgiving, the department gathers updates on local shelter numbers and service hours so it can arm every officer with the latest information.

When temperatures drop to freezing and below, the MTPD enlists the help of the Hypothermia Van, a service funded by D.C. and various non-profit organizations. The van patrols the greater-D.C. area 24 hours a day and provides shelter, transportation and other care. If police call the van and it can’t get to someone promptly, Pavlik said, officers will provide transportation to the appropriate care — whether that’s a shelter or a hospital.

Since Metro stations shut down at night, Pavlik said his officers focus on finding care for the homeless instead of allowing people to stay overnight, even in extreme weather conditions.

But when Boston faces a blizzard, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority operates a little differently, according to Joseph O’Connor, superintendent-in-chief of the MBTA Transit Police Department.

“In extreme weather, if someone refuses to leave the station, we will allow them to stay in the station overnight if they refuse a shelter,” O’Connor said.

MBTA subway stations normally close at 1 a.m. When extreme weather hits, the station of choice to remain open is often Boston’s South Station, O’Connor said. South Station is large and has restrooms, food, tables, chairs and, of course, heat.

But he said MBTA police always focus first on finding care, working with a number of shelters in the greater-Boston area and recruiting the help of the public through the authority’s See Say smartphone app. The app was designed so that MBTA riders can report suspicious activity, but O’Connor said the public can also use the app to report anyone who looks like they might need help.

Other transit agencies enlist the help of outside public agencies or private social services organizations. Adam Lisberg, spokesman for New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said MTA works with the New York City Police Department, the New York City Department of Homeless Services, MTA Police and a private social services agency called Bowery Residents Committee.

Lisberg said MTA has an annual $1.6 million contract with Bowery Residents Committee to enlist the help of its 17 full-time workers who patrol the subway system and offer help to homeless people. The goal — get them into shelter beds and into the shelter system.

Last December, January and February, Bowery Residents Committee reached a total of about 700 people, Lisberg said.

Not far from New York City is the New Jersey Transit Authority, which practices homelessness outreach through the Community Invention Project. The project is a partnership between the N.J. Transit Authority, Newark Mayor Cory Booker and the Mental Health Association of Essex County.

Nancy Snyder, N.J. Transit spokeswoman, said the project helps the homeless populating Newark’s Penn Station find services and assistance and helps N.J. Transit police officers focus on transit safety and security.

Snyder said that since the project launched in January, it has helped 53 individuals obtain temporary placement with Essex County shelters and emergency housing, connected 29 people with psychiatric inpatient services or psychiatric hospitalization screening and linked 26 additional individuals with diagnosed mental illness to permanent housing programs, among other successes.

The Chicago Transit Authority also enlists the help of a couple of different organizations, including Chicago’s Department of Family & Support Services and the Thresholds Organization, an Illinois mental health services provider, said CTA spokeswoman Catherine Hosinski.

“The DFS and Thresholds have 24-hour access to CTA platforms and trains to allow them to speak with individuals and work to place them into overnight shelters and direct them to the social services available,” Hosinski said in an emailed statement.

CTA’s eventual goal, like so many other public transit agencies, is to get their homeless population out of public transit hubs and on the road to more permanent housing.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 8:30 a.m. on November 23, 2012.

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