things become homeless. snoop even now, years after the recession ended, there are more fragile, vulnerable, more families close to the edge, before the recession begins. we have a hard time figuring out who might become homeless. there are many people who are poor, who are on the edge. but most of them don't become homeless. one of the challenges is figuring out who will become homeless. the point in time is very difficult. to do well. we encourage communities to do a by-name list. they do - they go out into the community. talked everyone they find, and do it not just one night, over the course of a week. we do it 4 o'clock in the morning. that's when people are on the street. if you are out at 10:00p.m. and are looking homeless, you are not. we encourage communities to have a by-name list. washington d.c. nose where every veteran is living that they have been able to find. and they have been very, very diligent about looking for people. that makes a huge difference. >> when we come back. there's no one siz

according to the coalition for the homeless, there are approximately 58,000 homeless people on the streetsw york city this summer which is the highest number since the great depression. those 58,000 are in a sense the lucky ones. they're able to find spots in local shelters in new york city every night. but not everyone goes. >> i sleep on a bench in the even overnight. >>reporter: he has to sleep sitting in a bench until 56 p.m. when the city curfew is lifted and then he can lay on the ground and sleep. >>reporter: the solution is long-term affordable housing. >> it's never effective to criminalize being homeless or criminalize being mentally ill. >>> with us in the studio tonight is nicky houston, a tax attorney and advocate for the rights of the homeless. she was homeless at the age of nine living in shelters with her mother and younger brother. and eric tars is a senior attorney at the national law center on homelessness and poverty. so, there seems to be an explosion in the numbers of homeless on the streets of new york city. why? this is about the poor. middle class people are not on

to me homelessness just isn't about the homeless. it's about the poor. you don't find middle class people ending on the streets. you find people on the cuff. the working poor who end up having a catastrophic life event that happens to them and puts them on the street as my mother and brother and i were. >> it was fascinated about the number of homeless people there are. why is it so hard to nail down? do we even know how many there are? >> well, homeless people by their nature are in places easy to count. some people are in shelters and those are the numbers that provide the majority of the people who are counted in huds, the department of housing and urban development's annual account. because the number of people in the shelters goes up or down based on the funding, those numbers might go down even though the problem itself has not gone down itself. we estimate there are two and a half to 3 million people in america who experience homelessness each year on the streets or in shelters and 7.4 million people doubled up due to economic necessity because th

it's down 40% for chronic homeless. this is because of the president's strong support his focus, and the funding that we have received. funding is important for supportive services, for permanent and transitional housing, for prevention and treatment, for employment and job training. since 2008 funding programs benefiting veterans homelessness have increased 170% from $2.4 billion in 2008 the $6.5 billion in 2015. but it's about a lot more than just money. we have to now to spend that money. well, we've learned what works and importantly, very importantly we have learned what doesn't work. we settle on evidence-based strategies ngc then you on this chart. housing first, housing first what a beautiful strategy. i mean, it recognizes the hearty of need. we got to get the lowest level the out of the way first so that we could work on the other needs of the better but if we don't get the veteran under a row of there is a way we can work on their treatment. so temporary housing is the most important thing to do first and ind

homelessness. they will describe the innovative housing model and what gets in the way of this approach. so we've arrived to the part of the program that also has some substance to it. here's barbara. >> i really appreciate so many people being here today. i think it really is important about the growing awareness of how healthcare is changing the country and in particular the impact that housing has on health status. the national healthcare for the homeless council represent many healthcare facilities and the homeless individuals they serve. over 1 million patients are being seen in these facilities each year. the lack of housing is really an issue not only for the health centers but the larger healthcare system that we are looking to change. one one of the things that might not be intuitive is how housing affects health care. back in the 80s the institute of medicine did a study looking at that very impact and they found three major relationships. poor health causes homelessness. typically what w

and homeless outreach comes with other challenges too. in tompkins square park today where police have recently taken a more aggressive approach, this homeless man tells us he's furious he was arrested for having a beer and sleeping on a bench. >> we're very consistent in our approach, take a very soft approach. >> reporter: outreach teams say it takes time to develop trust with their clients. >> homeless people have just as much of a right to public space as does anyone else. >> reporter: mayor de blasio is expected to unveil his plan on wednesday. melissa russo, news 4 new york. >>> and that does it for us. we thank you for watching. stay with us as the news continues at 6:00. >>> live, from studio 3c in rockefeller center. this is news 4 new york. >>> now at 6:00, the first test of the attorney general's new powers as he takes over the investigation of the death of a mother of eight in police custody. >>> plus, after a weekend plagued by gun violence, the i-team finds the nypd is taking far fewer guns off the street than it used to. >>

it's a homelessness crisis unprecedented in any american city. >> what we see today, the homeless that we see, the exodus from this city, families doubling, tripling up, the rent sky rocketing, this has been a crisis that has been cooking for 20 years. >> why are so many in new york homeless? this week fault lines looks at the forces that are displacing thousands from their homes. ♪ we are on our way to the south bronx to new york's intake center for homeless families, more than 70% of the people in the city shelters are families with children. >> homelessness is so complicated. it's not just a guy the street with that shopping cart and it isn't just this one person who made the wrong choice or had bad luck. >> to apply for shelter a family must first come to this building known as pack, journalists are not allowed inside. >> we have been here just a few hours and there have been dozens of families coming in. it has been really shocking. a lot of young children and working parents trying to make it. what is it like in there? >> it's not what people think. everyday people. >> i don't ju

the national healthcare for homeless council represents health centers and the homeless patients that they serve, about 250 nationally. over one million patients are being seen in america's health centers each year. of their and breath knees, specifically because of a lack of housing, is really an issue for not only health centers, but for the larger health care industry that we are looking to change. one of the things that might not housing ise is how health care. back in the 1980's, the institute of medicine did a study looking at that impact. they found three major findings. causesthe core health homelessness. typically we were seeing a spiral of people with an injury or illness, unable to work. when you are unable to work, of course the work goes away, you get fired or laid off, o and you can no longer bring in income. soon after that, you can't make rent or mortgage. you move in with friends, pretty soon that doesn't work out, so you slide into a shelter situation or on the street. we also see the congress. homelessness causes for health -- poor health. if you can imagine living

homelessness. working on housing and work in and getting a job. if you are fighting your addiction or mental health it's hard to get out of a shelter or off the street. one example of how when a health center population people who are homeless have disproportionately high rates of any disease you can imagine. that brings us to supportive housing. when we think about what a supportive housing typically it is helpful to think about it in terms of attrition additional model that emphasizes recovery first printers owner 20s we require people to get clean and sober and require people to enter into treatment and be successful before we get them into housing unit. if everyone follows the rules and you continue to follow the rules maybe one day you can be an independent house and while that certainly works for some rigid work for people who have serious health care condition is hard to get clean when you are living on the streets. the supportive housing with that model. any of us can go home tonight and ha

the national health care for the homeless council hopes those homeless patients that they serve about 250 nationally and over 1 million are seen each year in the depth and breadth of their needs specifically because of the lack of housing is an issue for the larger health care industry. one of the things that might not be intuitive is housing and health care. back and '80s the instituted a steady and they found three major findings. so the main causes of homelessness we have a spiral of people who have an injury or illness and able to work then eventually the work kiddos away or you are fired or laid off. pretty soon you cannot make rent or mortgage to move in with family or friends then use slide into a shelter situation. we would see them regularly. we also see that homelessness causes for health. to imagine living on the street or in a shelter is stressful if you didn't have issues before you would tend to if your help -- homeless it is very difficult to be exposed to extremes of weather without getting hospitalization and emergency visits are frequent. high blood pressure of you w

treating the homeless and finding out whether homeless individuals have mental health issues is exactly the right thing to do. >> homeless advocates and city officials agree a very small percentage of homeless new yorkers are actually violent. since many street homeless also avoid shelters because they fear they're unsafe, city hall is also planning to put extra security in shelters over the next few months. chuck? >> coming up next, news 4 continues, and an update on the wayward dolphin getting back out to sea. >> plus, an amazing story of how rare and extremely valuable violin was found more than three decades after it was stolen. and steve villanueva has your friday forecast. we've been waiting. >> we have been waiting. and tonight, parts of the area will start to see some rain showers. but what about your friday and the weekend? will we see improving weather? we'll talk about it coming up. >>> tonight, crews are coming up with ideas to move a dolphin trapped in the south river back out to sea. the rescue effort began this afternoon. and the dolphin is 10 miles from the ocean. today

. >> we shouldn't criminalize being homeless.e should criminalize a nation allowing people to go homeless. it is truly amazing that in a country of more than 400 billionaires, we have 600,000 of our neighbors. many of whom are women and children who can't earn enough to have housing. that's the issue. it is about housing, mental health care and basic human caring. black lives matter and homeless lives matter. every time you start dehumanizing people, you set up the ability to take away their rights. engage in violence and basically say they're less than human and they don't deserve basic rights. >> more and more cities are trying to criminalize homeless. a study of 187 american cities showed 34% ban camping in public. 43% ban sleeping in vehicles. 53% ban sitting, lying down in certain public places. 9% ban sharing food with homeless. how can this problem be helped if the homeless are legally being targeted? >> we have a funny way of defining dependency. as you know, scott walker said over and over again. the success of society i

but bratton says you can't simply arrest someone for being homeless, as homelessness in and of itself is not a crime. chuck and shiba? >> melissa, thank you. >>> lester holt joins us now with a look at what's ahead on "nbc nightly news" tonight. >> we're covering the story we woke up to this morning, the horrible shooting in virginia of those two journalists. we're going to take a look at their lives, the bright futures, the promising, exciting futures they had. we're also going to hear from some of their colleagues who carried on with a remarkable professionism face of such a horrible tragedy. >>> and a big part of the story, how the gunman used social media. >> he had a gun and a camera on his cell phone in hand, and posted that, even as it was on the run, made twitter postings and that opens up a question about what we all see on social media, what's acceptable, where the lines are, and how that was dealt with, so we've got a well. >> a lot of folks talking about that tonight, lester. thank you. >>> after getting run out of times square, some costumed characters have moved south no

telling fox 5, quote, under mayor bloomberg homeless funds slashed dramatically opinion number of homeless trip it would under mayor bloomberg. a according to blasio office number of homeless dropped from 60,000 to 56,000. but in a recent quinnipiac poll new yorkers feel like mayor could do better. some 53% say they didn't approve of de blasio's handling of the issue. and the new homeless initiative could prove to be difficult. advocates say it is hard to identify violent homeless people let alone get them to help they need. now mayor is expected to make this announcement along side his wife chirlane mccray down at city hall. live at tompkins square park. over to you. >> thanks very much. >> liz thank you so much. we have plenty more as we continue in the 6 a.m. hour. >> mike it is checking the weather for us. a beautiful sunrise today. mike: lots of shots and share one with you a little bit. sunny skies increasing clouds later in the day, though. but still beginning ton pretty warm but not as warm as yesterday. startoff temp 68 and lower 80s. by the way we have the fox 5 weather app at th

so they are not, in fact, shaming the homeless.emselves, their badges, their oaths and everything police officers represent. >> at the same time, christie, they're dehumanizing these people by using the props. they are essentially shaming them because they're showing somebody without their permission and showing them as if they don't have the option or right to give their permission to be photographed. >> it's completely unethical to create an internet meme. new yorkers can do better and police by and large know this, too, because we work with them every day with our folks. this is the leadership and this kind of characterization will lead to criminalization of poor people, homeless people and this is just absolutely dehumanizing. >> i wonder about that. how this -- what this says about the attitude of police in general and should it be concerning? >> well, your point was very interesting this may be a reaction to the filming of the police. and so if you film the police in ferguson, i guess you get yourself arrested maybe in fergus

advocates a is hard to identify violent homeless people let need. the mayor will make this announcement detailing the play alongside his wife at city hall. back to you in the studio. >> there is some sort of event in cleveland tonight. is not an indians' game, not a cavs game. the republican presidential debate. >> you might have heard of it. it could get a little crazy with it. i don't know if they will go at it but they probably will. who knows what they will say? kerry drew joins us for a preview as ban makes his way to the airport. >> reporter: you can see the stage is set for tonight's big debate, total of 17 gop hopefuls taking part in two separate debates, one earlier in the night and one in prime time and this event is getting a lot of attention in part because it is donald trump's first political debate. donald trump scored a prime location for tonight's debating cleveland. the real-estate mogul and reality tv star will take center stage at the quick and loans arena after ranking as the top candidate in five recent national polls and trump

some panhandlers assumed to be homeless have homes. he did not want to comment on the proposal. >> with all due respect to our friends in the labor movement, we have a police force that every day enforces the laws of new york city and they're quite familiar with what to do if they see a law being broken. a member of the public should report it so a police officer can deal with it. >> reporter: not everyone believes the 3,000 figure. nyc map the homeless's created by a resident fed up by the acts of public urination and other behavior he saw in his neighborhood. the mayor insists police are still enforcing the same regulations on our streets. >> we're going to have very consistent quality of life enforcement all over the city for any kind of offense. that includes if a homeless person commits it. >> reporter: the sergeants benevolent association wants members of the public to take pictures of the homeless and send them to them when they see them on the streets. last week, the mayor announced a new program called nyc safe to help the men

and so he doesn't want homeless people in any given area because he believes that if a homeless person is there then criminals are going to show up. and the police officers who have developed since he introduced that in the '90s really have that philosophical sense that you have to be hard on getting rid of the appearance of degradation in a space in order to prevent crime. >> and you obviously disagree. what do you make though of the mayor's effort, $22 million to try the help deal with mental health issues, the reason so many people are on the streets? >> i agree with the mayor's effort, my problem is going back to these pictures that the police union are putting online, the mayor's effort about he's trying to take people who are mentally ill, and direct them to mental services, instead of directing them to jails, to reicrykers. direct them to mental services, don't criminalize them. my problem is i don't trust police to carry it out. and the fact that the police union has chosen to take -- that they're going to do a campaign to take pictures and humiliate homeless people -- >> but l

a flickr account went viral and crazy with pictures of homeless all over the city. so i came here in midtown new york where i spoke to bobby watts was the executive director, the people who are's speaking for the homeless who can't speak for themselves. >> this initiative raises awareness and determination to implement strategies and programs that we know are successful. >> today awareness is all the rage, people dumped ice on their head. >> people know it's a big problem they don't nest really want to see it, when they do and their faces like this they get something called passion fatigue may need their overwhelmed by the side of this that they can't possibly help. >> i want to focus on and i hope people when they see a homeless person on the street that they see this as not only a person but a problem that needs our help and anna country as rich as ours that's the problem not just the homeless person is not the problem. >> we saw people slipping on pizza boxes on greenwich village. this has asked really helped, this guys trying to get him off the street, when you

the police are now turning the camera on the homeless people. people are asked to snap pictures of the homeless on the streets. the union president says failed city policies and more homeless on the streets are leading to new york's downfall. >> i've been the ceo of the new york city rescue mission for three years, and we've seen an increase in demand. >> reporter: they've accommodated thousands more every year. there were more than 56,000 people in new york shelters friday night. >> the number will swell dramatically during the cold months. >> reporter: after hearing about the website with pictures, the mayor fired back monday afternoon. >> we're going to have very consistent quality of life enforcement all over this city, for any offense, and that includes if a homeless person commits it. >> reporter: you as a new yorker can snap pictures of the homeless, as well. the mayor of the union, a critic of the mayor de blasio, wants people to see what's happening on the streets. >>> a park was evacuated to destroy a hand grenade found by children who

us is jennifer from the coalition on homeless.e been around this problem and you have seen this. what is it that we can do about this, this constant revolving door? you are picked up off the street, taken to the hospital, fixed up and put back on the street. >> one of the things that's happening, and i think we know this well, as people live outside their physical health is deteriorating rapidly. small health issues come into big issues. you get a cut and it gets infected. people out there are really sick and disabled. it is impossible for them to get better while they remain on the streets. >> which brings us to the great paradox of our homeless policy. these people are wandering the streets of marketplace. you and i see them everyday. the public sees them. if you are incapable of helping yourself you are incapable of making a decision to get help but you can't get help unless you are willing to go in and get help. >> you know, we have yet to meet the mysterious person not willing to get help. everyone we are talking to is trying

the violent homeless off the streets. but the progressive mayor has to deal with legal and political concerns that it doesn't violate constitutional rights and doesn't offend his political base with what might be interpreted as heavy-handed police tactics. [ screaming ] >> reporter: and there is now a new problem the propensity of the homeless to smoke synthetic marijuana demonstrated in this video distributed by the nypd. a naked homeless man in brooklyn stopping a school safety vehicle recently. the drug makes users violent, irrational and hot so they strip off their clothes and makes it dangerous and difficult for the police to arrest them. >> super human strength, impervious to pain so some of the normal takedowns that we would use, um, are not going to work. it's going to take a combination of taser, often times take more officers. >> reporter: because of this, the nypd plans to train as many as 10,000 cops in new strategies for dealing with the homeless. nypd actions limited also by the fact that because it's synthe

of homelessness does not equal reality. they warn new yorkers not to be panhandling. it doesn't mean they have no place to go home to at night. sleep on. >> reporter: the de blasio administration has added more than $1 billion to the homelessness budget over four years, and is launching a new outreach plan for the mentally ill homeless. the goal is to treat them on the street, if necessary. do you think if the mayor were to offer you mental health extremity in the streets on a regular basis that would help you to come inside? >> i don't know. i can't -- i don't know. >> reporter: in midtown, melissa russo, news 4 new york. >>> now to the weather. and the return of uncomfortably hot weather. the temperatures are going to keep rising over the weekend, and also returning after such a nice week that brutal humidity to make everything feel even worse. it's all coming back. it looks like a possible heatwave is moving in. news 4's andrew siff is in queens tonight with more on that at the pool, andrew. >> reporter: yeah, rob. i'm s

they are among the thousands of homeless in new york city. their faces and pictures are being posted online by police officers. one of the unions representing the nypd calls this flicker account, peek a boo. the union says city hall has failed the city in tackling the homeless population, and politicians are spending their time attacking police officers. so the union has asked members when they are off duty to photograph the homeless. but who do these pictures shame? the people you see, or the officers who take them? this all comes a week after the mayor introduced a $22 million proposal to deal with homelessness called nyc safe. the money would be used to house and treat those with mental illness, and put more police near homeless shelters. according to the coalition for the homeless, over the last ten years the number of people sleeping in new york city shelters rose steadily, reaching 60,000 earlier this year. the city says the number actually living on the streets is about 3,000. for many these pictures do nothing to solve the problem. >>

veterans homelessness this year which we're on track to do.ily homelessness in a couple of years which includes closing the largest family shelter in the district of columbia. >> district of columbia -- >> yeah, old d.c. general. but also looking for pathways to ending chronic homelessness in this city. one thing i learned, everybody is committed to it. they think that in a city that has grown the type of prosperity that we have should have safe and affordable housing for people. so we -- we have put together a great team on september 1st we'll actually submit our winter plan to the interagency council on homelessness. my director is working hand in hand with our partners on the council, but also the advocacy community. we were able to secure record amounts of money to end homelessness in d.c. and we were able to do that because we committed to making some changes and doing things differently. so we will talk about the changes that we need and this september with the council, with our winter plan. but also with our plan to have an eight ward s

. >>> homeless shelters coming under fire. one man in the area wants the shelters to get out of town. >> new at 6:00 p.m. the guy behind the street signs you will only see in san francisco. >> that is what we are showing. the bottom of the truck will impact the hill. >> how he turned his passion into profession. >>> in marin county two homeless outreach centers are coming underfire. their leases are up for renewal and a man is waging a campaign to make them move. ktvu's ken wayne has more. >> it is awful. >> reporter: he doesn't mince words. he had it with the homeless. >> they don't want to be housed. they want to live on the streets. they want to cause trouble. >> reporter: he says he is tired of seeing people sleeping or passed out, tired of the litter and human waste. >> people will not go downtown because of what they see. >> reporter: by moving services out of town the homeless would also leave. >> if you are homeless, we have it. that is why they come here. >> very familiar with him. he has been causing uproar for the l

. >> this man is homeless. >> mark came back from france completely gross. >> is covered in bedbug bites. >> there's a dolphin stranded in the south river, half the town's come come out to have a look at it. it's not the world, he's he's not doing back flips in the air. keep your eyes rolling, keep the camera roll and just might cap catch a glimpse. >> a lot of cops down here, the dolphin stranded here in the south river in oak ridge just east of route 18. at the town is come out to have it. >> well we are asking to go to dinner last night and ask if they could take a drive by a look at it. >> you joe by last night? >> now the dolphin is not easy to spot, the muddy river and he kinda pops up every so often, you'll see people say oh there he is. good pictures taken of him on social media last night, local police say to stay out of the street. >> everyone's coming down to take a look at the dolphin. >> the people from the marine are on the scene, they're trying to guide the golf and back to the ocean he came from. >> will trying alternatives to get him back to the ocean, we might try putti

he also says some panhandlers assumed to be homeless actually have homes. the mayor did not want to comment on the proposal. >> with all respect to our friends in the labor movement we have a police force that every day enforces the laws of new york city and they're quite familiar with what to do if they see a lot being broken. a member of the public sees a lot being broken they should report its joy police officer can deal with it. >> not everyone believes the 3,000 figure. a new apps called map the homeless was created by am mary hill residents that up by acts of public urination and other behavior he saw in his neighborhood. the mayor insists police are enforcing the same regulations on our streets. >> we are going to have a very consistent enforcement allover the city for any kind of offense that includes a homeless person committed. >> they also want members of the public to send pictures of the homeless they see on the streets. new program to help the mentally ill homeless to have violent tendencies and get them into treatment. i am lisa evers, fox 5

in fact according to one study, 68% of homeless here have one.vinaylviea is not an expert on the homeless but she's an expert in technology. in her role as the head of the santa clara university frugal lab within an expert in using technology for good. >> with the computing skills we could actually help somebody. >> which brings us to this project. her app meant specifically for homeless youths gives them instant access to information about food, housing and medical care just to name a few. it has the potential to help 7,000 in santa clara county alone. >> i'm trying to put technology to good use. >> so i'll show you a demo. >> this project aims to bring ride sharing to remote portions of uganda. think of it as uber for rural africa. >> we take the technology to them. >> none of them will likely get rich off of their invention, but they are certainly enriching the lives of others. >> the app for the homeless is actually an expansion of a previous program run through the frugal innovation lab, one that used text messaging to alert the homeless for

we'll tell you how many homeless dogs and cats now have a new home. diove onhe >>> coming up tonight at 6:00, secrets revealed. the discovery on the moon and what scientists thought was always there but now they have proof. tonight at 6:00. >>> more than 1,000 homeless dogs and cats now have a home. and we have you to thank for that. what a weekend. our clear the shelters program, nbc bay area, along with nbc stations across the country, teamed up with our local animal shelters on saturday. many of these shelters waived or reduced the adoption fees. here's some numbers. nationwide, more than 17,000 animals were adopted because of the program. sam brock having some fun in the bay area specifically, more than 1,000 pets now have a new home. >> so cute. >> there were some great dogs. jeff ranieri out there saturday. you were having fun. >> a hot day too. >> it was hot. they went to great homes. more on the weather forecast coming up. >> join us at 5:00. lester holt is next. >> bye-bye. >>> developing news tonight. deploying the military. active-duty troo

and insuring the mentally ill homeless receive the care they need. mayor guiliani told me he's not sure whether the nypd gave his complaint any special treatment. he says all he does know is that the homeless guy hasn't been seen since. >> thank god for mayor guiliani for doing it. >> reporter: since mayor guiliani went in to complain, what's the difference? >> i haven't -- i don't think he's been around. >> tell him not to hold his breath. >> reporter: and across the park, where homeless are visible everywhere, some west siders wonder why guiliani's block should get a quick fix. >> who is he, and why should they remove him out of his neighborhood and not somebody else's neighborhood. >> reporter: melissa russo, news 4 new york. >>> and coming up as news 4 at 6:00 continues, news 4 has learned the cause of a frightening fire over the weekend. >>> and three years after sandy and the struggle to rebuild on long island continues, today homeowner got to question fema directly. plus janice has your workweek forecast. it is monday. >> it is monday. and we

within 30 days more peace officers in homeless shelters. within 60 days, more clinical staff to work with the mentally ill and within 90 days a central hub merging the nypd and mental health clinicians. throughout his entire media event today, the mayor took this approach. >> some in the media tried to portray this as about homeless first and foremost. it is about people that have mental health challenges and are prone to violence. >> reporter: a plan he says targets all new yorkers with severe mental illness with their safety and the public's in mind. >> i expect that as this fully progresses, it will reduce violent crime. stands to reason. >> reporter: the administration targeted more than $300 million to mental health programs and in the fall they will unveil a larger mental health road map for new york city. live in city hall, stacey sager, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> stacey, thank you. >>> to dig deeper on this issue, hard for most new yorkers to ignore the growing problem of emotionally disturbed people. when it comes to quality of

owner in the city in many different was as of the 2014 homeless census over 64 homeless in individuale to the navigation center. >> this pilot project is for people living on the street what makes it different the navigation center is able to accommodate homeless encampments lowell u allowing people to keep their pets and bring their personal bloonlz. >> the full realization that people don't want to be homeless not refuse services but from the services don't meet them and not relevant they're not going to be successful if you look at the budget losses we've got a community sacrifice important people to get food and laundry we're standing next to the bathrooms it is designed to be a dynamic and brief residential experience where right of on this site city staff to connect you to homeless places to return to family dine is up for medi-cal and all those things that are complicated for people. >> the other exciting thing city agencies come on site and provided the services for folks this is existed to see when the goal of streamlining a a whole processes of getting people on go gentle as

and that 13,000 people are on public assistance become homeless every month. report also says that in the average month over 100,000 children experience homelessness. we get more now from america tonight's. >> up to understand that it's very humiliating. >> the only life that paula and her two daughters have known for the past four years is the one they've lived out on the road stopping once in a while for take out. making grocery runs, and pit stops for gas. >> because their lives resolve around their minivan. they're among the hidden homeless, the roughly 213,000 americans who live in unsheltered spaces. >> you really cut yourself off from everybody and everything. i mean, we had to avoid any of emily's friends seeing the car if i were to go to the grocery store and see one of our old neighbors we would hurry up and leave. >> paula lived an enviable life for more than two decades. celebrating christmases, watching her daughters into adolescence. living with her ex-husband in this side of town. >> it was a fairytale, the american dream. i didn't have to work.

services out of town, the homeless would also leave. >> if you're homeless, anything you need, we've got it. that's why they come here. >> very familiar with mr. landeckeer. >> reporter: the center says it provides everything from food and clothing to hot showers, and mental health and substance abuse counseling. >> the depth of his protection for his town has from my perspective really eliminated his sense of compassion. >> reporter: albert ellis has been homeless for eight years. he also knows about landecker. >> it's not so much what i think of him, it's what he doesn't understand. human needs. the biggest one is sleep. that's the first thing people who are homeless are deprived of. >> reporter: he now has more than 400 members. he's also proposing a massive homeless assistance program, and sending san rafael's homeless there. >> here's two and a half square miles of land. i am about solutions, and i see the problem. it's getting worse. >> reporter: leases on two of the ritter center properties expire in december. he is trying to convince the landlord not to renew those leases. th

it's creating a public health crisis and taking the toll on the homeless. they can buy it at bodegas for a dollar a packet. >> it made my heart heart. i thought i was going to have a heart attack. >> reporter: this man asked me not show his face, but he said it has a violent reaction. bill bratton calls it weaponized marijuana. >> many of the individuals under the influence of the drug are totally crazy and have superhuman strength, impervious to pain, and some of the normal takedowns we would normally use will not work. >> reporter: synthetic marijuana such a problem, police confiscated 10,000 packets in central harlem, and this comes after the city released the latest crime statistics. overall crime is down by more than 5%, but homicides have gone up 10% from the same time last year, and that's something we asked mayor de blasio about. >> reporter: some people look at the increased murder rate and the increased homeless as signs the city is going downhill, what would you say to some who believe the city is going downhill? >> i would say look at the facts

officers that arrest them do so to coral homelessness. programs should address the issue before they become arrested. they've been arrested for loitering or trespassing. they should have programs outside thele criminal system that -- the criminal system with nothing to do with them flown in the criminal system. the issue of police trained properly is a good idea. they shouldn't be arrested for in the system. once they are in the system everyone touts that it's a great thing to be in a mental health court. number one is a lot of these people get off the meds as soon as the case is over, and they are doing whatever they do in the first place. now you have 2-times the cost. >> we have identified two things that don't work, the system that doesn't have a mental health court and treats these people as criminals when there's another solution, and mental health courts that do not work. you saw the example in miami dade. do you see what happens in the mental health corp. i'll do an amazing job with the tools that he had. i feel like they should a

lived in marin before becoming homeless. he says the e-mail campaign to address homelessness has 400 members. >> starbucks bought the brand for $100 million to boost the food offering and in june announced the locations would shut down. the stores on market street and columbus avenue will close tomorrow. the remaining locations will shut down next month. starbucks will continue to make pastries and same them at the coffee houses. >>> tickets go on sale tomorrow for the grateful dead's spin off band. dead and company will perform two shows in san francisco right after christmas. you're looking at video from the fare thee well tour. you have a chance to see them again. tickets for december 27 and 28 go on sale tomorrow and they will be 50 to $99. >>> 4:26 is the time. honoring friends, a tough morning in virginia. the on air tribute on air. the dinner and drinks in san francisco's most expensive restaurant. the new evidence in the case against a back leader that may prove the fbi set him up. >>> the commute is off to a decent

they say a homeless man sold the guns to them for just $8. the boys were in the parking lot of a 7-eleven store in bristol. this is just outside of philadelphia. when police say they were approached by 59-year-old reginald cisco, who had a rifle and an air gun. >> this guy offered me two guns for $8, because he asked me, do you like to go hunting? and i said yeah. >> i've lived here all my life! i've never, ever, ever had anything like this happen. >> this is the case. >> the boys took the guns home, hid them but one of their cousins eventually alerted the adults. police later arrested cisco and discovered one of the rifles was stolen from a nearby auto shop. >>> powdered alcohol will not be making its way to store shelves in new york. governor cuomo signed a statewide ban into law today. federal regulators approved the product known as palcahol in march, but cuomo believes it could pose a serious threat to underage drinkers. new york joins 21 other states that have already banned sales. >>> two months after that dramatic prison break upstate

the commissioner says it's the new favorite drug of some homeless people who buy it for as little as $1 a packet. as this second video shows, it makes it very difficult and dangerous for cops to arrest them. >> many of the individuals under the influence of this drug totally crazy. superhuman strength, impervious to pain. so some of the normal take downs that we would use are not going to work. >> reporter: it's such a problem that police recently confiscated over 10,000 packets in central harlem. police released the latest crime stats showing while overall crime is down 5%, homicides are up 10% over the last year. officials say most of the shootings like the one in red hook last night in which five people were shot is gang-related and confined to upper manhattan, the bronx, and central brooklyn. many of the shooters are repeat offenders. >> we had an incident this past weekend in brooklyn of a young man shot in the chest. he was involved in a shooting incident last year. he was shot in the chest this week, the day before he's to be sentenced on a gun charge. >> reporter: the joint i

i think the bad news is we got too many homeless. the good news is we have a mayor that's very sensitive about that. and i can tell you from personal experience, 'cause i've already been in touch with him -- he's got some extraordinarily promising and innovative ideas, and he's been kind enough to cooperate with religious leaders in meeting what i think is a major challenge in our city. >> how's your relationship with the mayor? >> it's good. it's very good. >> it's a good one? >> yeah. he likes pasta as well as i do. >> mm-hmm. >> [ laughs ] no, it is very good. >> but he doesn't go to church. >> no, although he describes himself -- by the way, it's a good chunk of americans -- as spiritual but not religious. so, he's not afraid at all to speak about faith, about prayer, about god. he's very candid to say, "i was raised without any particular creed." he's also very realistic -- i find refreshingly so -- in recognizing the positive and constructive role that religion and the churches play in the new york community, so i admire that.

and a viewer recognized this homeless man in the black t- shirt. hard to believe he is the same person in this photo, celebrating his sister's wedding two summers ago. when you look at this picture of him happy and smiling what goes through your mind? >> it breaks my heart. he could have been something in life and living on the streets -- i'm a father. and like any other father out there, they don't want to see their kids in the street. >> reporter: peter says his son peter junior attended dix hills high school and suny albany. every advantage a loving family could offer vanquished by the demon of drug use that started 15 years ago. >> he is what he is now because of his addictions. >> reporter: he is particularly worried about his son using synthetic marijuana, which can permanently damage body and brain. >> these drugs can make these people very violent, very unpredictable. the way i saw them today -- >> reporter: he said he tried many times to get his son help and even tried to get tough. >> i went to the police station. 34 years old. there's no

were homeless.y have ties in the community. it is their own community that they are maybe trying to get back into. we will continue to report on this. >> think you. >>> it's now 8:40. san francisco police chief and the city supervisor have message on taurus after a visitor from thailand was robbed and tropical julie christiansen and police chief greg [ name indiscernible ] says what happened tuesday afternoon was repticon the tourist was shot after being robbed of his camera near the crooked part of low-budget. the crux were arrested in oakland and identified as eric anthony espinal and brian [ name indiscernible ] supervisor christiansen says this is unacceptable. >> i don't want to give people the idea that they can come to this neighborhood or to san francisco and commit these kind of crimes. that is somehow okay or they're going to get off with a hand slap. >> christiansen says she and achieve are trying to make sure that repeat offenders given punishments that fit their comes. the tourist is ex