Home > Sturm College of Law > Denver Journal of International Law & Policy > Vol. 52 (2023) > No. 1 (2023)
Abstract
The homelessness crisis stands at a point of overflowing, affecting the world’s capacity to continue ignoring the problem. As the world globalized, vagrancy laws and pervasive stigmatization of the homeless community persisted, leaving modern-day social services with a failing ability to enact change. The United Nations first recognized the human right to adequate housing in the mid-twentieth century but has tried to strengthen this right over the past two decades. Law enforcement officers around the world interact regularly with individuals experiencing homelessness and are arguably tasked with being the front-line enforcers of the right to adequate housing. However, often, these interactions leave individuals experiencing homelessness at risk for police brutality and criminalization. This Article analyzes the various theories of policing individuals experiencing homelessness and ultimately concludes that local law enforcement can most effectively recognize the right to adequate housing by adopting specific police reforms and amplifying the voices of individuals experiencing homelessness in the decision-making process.
Recommended Citation
Sophia Vander Kooy, Local Law Enforcement and the Human Right to Housing, 52 DENV. J. INT'l L. & POL'y 117 (Fall 2023).