Exactly. If anything, I think homeless encampments are proof of this. It's not like homeless people are generally eager to cluster together; as both cause and effect, the level of mental illness and general dysfunction among the homeless is off the charts. In my neighborhood, the homeless are pretty well distributed, one or two people here and there. But I'd expect that in cities with more of an anti-homeless bias, there's a strong incentive to collect in places that are out of the way for cops.
I don't understand how any of you can see this as a lack of will from police rather than political policy coming from above them.
Here is thorough documentary outlining over and over again police prevented from enforcing law by politicians, who also don't charge or incarcerate criminals who cops arrest repeatedly.
I never said it was a lack of will from police. And I also don't think a 5-year-old pants-wetting video from a company well known for pushing right-wing views will convince me of much of anything. Especially that Seattle was dying 5 years ago, given that it doesn't seem to be dead. [1]
Homelessness is not a problem that will get solved with violence, which is what police have the monopoly on. It won't get solve with criminalizing homelessness, either, because it's mostly not a choice people make, but a situation they end up in. So I think it's generally good that cops generally ignore the homeless, because as this article shows, bad things can happen when they don't.
