Disorderly and drunk homeless people in Grand Traverse County are no longer welcomed to warm overnight in the lobby of the county jail. Leaders at the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Department say the service, often used by people who have been kicked out of area homeless shelters, is a disruption.
Undersheriff Nathan Alger says jail is not the right place for the homeless.
“The mental health community, the medical community, needs to get together and find out how to address the multiple problems these people have – the mental health issues or the physical disability issues that present themselves that cause them to be homeless,” he says. “That’s something that’s outside of law enforcement’s realm.”
Alger says those who are disruptive enough to be kicked out of a homeless shelter would now have to be arrested and admitted to the jail in order to stay overnight.