Picture The Homeless Civil Rights Committee Responds to Article in New York Post <a href="http://www.nypost.com/seven/02152009/news/regionalnews/cop_plan__go_on_offense_155296.htm">COP PLAN: GO ON 'OFFENSE'</a></p><p>An article written on February 15th in the New York Post spoke about how Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Commissioner Ray Kelly are stepping up ther efforts in addressing Quality of Life offenses by advocating a zero-tolerance method of dealing with homeless people.&nbsp; Last Friday precinct commanders met to help focus efforts against &quot;aggressive beggars, squeegee men, hookers and illegal peddlers,&quot; all of which they consider &quot;petty criminals.

Sources went as far as even saying &quot;If you have a homeless person on your street, that's a threat.&quot;</p><p>But the fact of the matter is that most Quality of Life offenses are not criminal.&nbsp; Poverty is not a crime and neither is homelessness.&nbsp; Homeless people are also entitled to a Quality of Life and we are organizing to fight for the right not to be criminalized!</p><p>&quot;Nobody in the state of New York gives a damn if I'm sleeping on a park bench.&quot; says John Jones a former volunteer at Picture The Homeless.

Yet admist an economic crisis and mandatory budget cuts, the NYPD is spending its resources criminalizing us and other folks living in poverty.&nbsp; And instead of providing assistance to people living in crisis situations, we are being targeted by the police.</p><p>Picture the Homeless member Damien Ramos expresses his frustration by saying &quot;Why would I go out to beg? Nobody really wants to beg. Begging is the last option. And people tell you to go get a job. What job?&quot;</p><p>But by the current policies of Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly, we see that they are only increasing the &quot;threat&quot; not decreasing it. And if the city already has a tight budget, why not come up with solutions that actually address the problem rather than perpetuate it?</p><p>&nbsp;</p>