By Aidan Cho
With the national crime rate currently sitting comfortably under its peak, it is not farfetched to say that homelessness and crime have an intertwined connection. When observing how crime rates effect homelessness on location and proximity, economic status, and affordable housing accessibility, the connection becomes clear. Obviously, government induced operations like redlining have effected the rates of homelessness and crime in certain areas of the United States. However, no matter where you live in this country, the instability of employment mixed with any crime rates (low or high) inexplicitly has an effect on the homelessness population.
Despite crime rate having a hefty effect on the housed population of America, crime especially effects the unhoused. The homeless population has a higher chance of being targeted for robbery, murder, and other violent crimes due to the lack of shelter and protection. Being in a vulnerable position, such as sleeping outside or not having the proper nutrition in their systems, the homeless victims are likely able to do nothing about situations that arise around violence and harassment.
Additionally, with the new presidential term coming into our society, certain new policies have even made being homeless a crime in itself. Not being able to sleep in public areas or facilities has given the unhoused another high hurdle to jump over, without even thinking about what other struggles they have to deal with.
With all that said, it is important to have a sense of empathy when understanding what is going on in the lives of others. Whether it be financial, mental, or even something nobody else can comprehend, having a neutral understanding of everyone’s humanity is the only thing that we can ask for in the current state of our society. Taking care of others is a natural path to taking care of yourself. You never know what someone is going through, it is important to keep an open mind and open heart, even when times are hard.
References:
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2025, August 5). FBI releases 2024 reported crimes in the nation statistics. https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-releases-2024-reported-crimes-in-the-nation-statistics
Nilsson, S. F., Nordentoft, M., Fazel, S., & Laursen, T. M. (2020). Homelessness and police-recorded crime victimisation: A nationwide, register-based cohort study. The Lancet Public Health, 5(6), e333–e341. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30075-X
The White House. (2025, July 24). Ending crime and disorder on America’s streets. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/ending-crime-and-disorder-on-americas-streets/