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The Unseen: Two Greenville officers, nicknamed 'Angel Cops,' search out the homeless and try to help
AP Photo / The Daily Reflector
Lt. Earl Phipps discusses the plight of the homeless in a camp.
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Published: September 7, 2008
GREENVILLE
Look out the window when driving to and from work this week. Do you see the homeless? They are among us. We pass them, and the places they live, each day.
However, encounters with most homeless people are rarely perceived by the majority of Greenville's working, housed population, according to local law-enforcement experts. Most commuters never see the dozens of homeless sites that exist in the city and in communities around Pitt County.
A man in ragged clothes holding a cardboard sign that says, "Homeless and hungry ... God bless you," might occasionally sit on a traffic island. That is an infrequent sight because it is illegal to "wave flags," as Sgt. Carlton Williams of the Greenville Police Department calls the signs.
Williams knows many of Greenville's homeless, their faces, the names they go by and the stories of their lives. He estimates that between 50 and 150 call the city home at any given time.
"There are so many unknown and untraceable factors," Williams said. "I know of probably 25-30 homeless sites personally, but there are many who keep to themselves and avoid contact with me and others."
Williams doesn't have a specific patrol assignment to deal with homeless people, he said, but about two years ago he made it his habit to learn who the homeless are and where they stay, and was joined in that effort by his colleague, Lt. Earl Phipps.
Together, the two have come to be known in the homeless community as the "Angel Cops," for their habit of unscheduled appearances at homeless sites.
They check conditions and carry food, water, clothing and toiletries to pass among the individuals and families they find.
The supplies are mostly provided by the Greenville Community Shelters, but also come from individuals, churches and other nongovernment organizations.
The ordinances and laws that most commonly place homeless people in front of law enforcement, according to Williams and Phipps, are trespassing and aggressive panhandling.
The officers recalled only one instance of larceny. Many homeless are also confronted by the law with their alcohol or drug dependencies.
"We started noticing an increase in homelessness about two years ago, accompanied by an increase in these types of crimes; things like dumpster diving for food and clothing," Phipps said. "So we can arrest people for these types of criminal activities, and sometimes do."
But that is not the way these officers usually deal with crimes related to homelessness, they said.
"At first, I didn't know what to do other than arrest someone," Phipps said.
He and other officers started to look more closely at the root causes of the crimes, whether they resulted from chemical dependency, mental health or just a series of events in a person's life that led to homelessness, he said.
"When you solve a problem at the root, it can break the cycle. That benefits the homeless, local businesses and all the stakeholders involved," Phipps said.
Williams said that unless they get a complaint from a property owner, officers don't force any action, but only keep an eye on who is at a site and how they live. Complaints are the exception to the status quo, he said.
"Many owners allow a person to stay near their store because they serve as a second security system, another set of eyes and ears that watches out for the property," he said.
Technically, Williams said, city property is off-limits and homeless are trespassing when they stay in a city park or public lands after dark.
"As a police officer, I have to enforce the law, but until they are asked to leave a business area, or do something wrong, I mostly just keep watch," he said.
Phipps said that some homeless people actually commit an aggressive panhandling offense or other minor trespassing offense because they want to be arrested, just to get in from the weather or have a comfortable place to sleep for a little while.
"We have the luxury of going into our homes and offices, but they don't," he said. "So they'll either get arrested or go to a 24-hour facility."
Common places of temporary shelter and comfort are the hospital, a grocery store or a department store, Phipps said.
"They're just trying to get out of the elements."
One of the ways Williams got involved with the homeless situation in Greenville was through his position as coordinator of the department's Crisis Intervention Team, which deals with mental-health issues.
"There are many halfway homes and group homes that offer shelter, services and programs, based on the cause of homelessness, special needs and funding," he said.
Williams and Phipps led a tour of homeless sites in Greenville to put a face on the issue.
Before driving off, they opened the trunk of their cruiser to reveal boxes of personal-hygiene supplies, essential-clothing items, such as scarves, ponchos and hand warmers and pre-packaged military meals-ready-to-eat, known as MREs. The officers also often have gift meal cards donated from local fast-food restaurants.
Phipps drove along Memorial Drive at about 10 a.m. The temperature was above 80 degrees by then. He turned into a convenience store that looked just like many others in town.
Between a fence at the back of the parking lot and a patch of bushes was a small space. On the ground was a wooden pallet, a resting place above the dirt and mud. Cigarette butts were strewn around.
"Here's somebody's bike," Phipps said. "They're either out day-working or hanging out where it's a little cooler. The store owner lets them clean up the lot and they have a place to stay."
Phipps asked the same question at every place he stopped: "How many people ride past and never realize someone is living here?"
Next, Phipps and Williams went to one of the most popular shopping centers in Greenville and drove along the outer edge, where few people park.
A woods outside the boundary extended about 150 yards past a well-manicured grass lawn. The view into the woods revealed no homeless community, no signs of habitation at all.
At a another, more hidden site, empty liquor bottles, beer cans and trash littered the ground.
"You can see the difference between here and a site where the working homeless stay," Phipps said. "A lot of people at this space are dealing with big alcohol issues; you can see it's not as well-kept. We have to get them connected with the right people to treat them."
Pausing, Phipps pointed through the trees toward the space outside.
"How far are we from the water tower that's on every city calendar? How far are we from the main businesses in town? Folks riding in their cars right now have no idea we're in here, but this is the face of homelessness. This is the forgotten population of Greenville," he said.
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