Cops Spy On Sleeping Homeless At 'Orwellian' Center: Advocates

NEW YORK CITY — Big Brother is watching the homeless, say advocates outraged over a new de Blasio administration command center.

The Coalition for the Homeless withdrew its support Friday from a new homelessness command center — lead by the NYPD and Department of Homeless Services — after the city tweeted photos of what appeared to be police monitoring and mapping the locations of homeless New Yorkers.

"The Mayor’s Orwellian assurances that mass surveillance and policing of New Yorkers who are sleeping on the streets will somehow accomplish the goal of ‘winning their trust’ defies logic," CFTH policy director Giselle Routhier said Friday. "We are deeply disturbed."

While Goutheir criticized sending police to respond to homeless people in need, the Mayor's Office said it was only rational to send police if the person faced an emergency or presented a safety risk.

“It’s common sense that certain 311 calls may be directed to 911," replied Deputy Press Secretary Avery Cohen. "This critique rings hollow, and undermines the trust our outreach workers build, each and every day, working with street homeless New Yorkers."

The critique was spurred by a celebratory tweet announcing the program's launch with photos of uniformed officers watching a dozen live video feeds.

Operatives at the Homelessness Joint Command Center use public camera footage, precision mapping and 311 data to conduct interventions and encourage homeless people to accept shelter and service referrals, according to a Mayor's Office press release from December.

New Yorkers and about 18,000 city workers have been asked to contact the command center through 311, which will direct the information to one of several agencies, among them the NYPD.

But Routhier worries homeless New Yorkers forced to face off with cops will only work harder to evade notice and miss out on public services they need.

"Instead of wasting public resources on this counterproductive and chilling strategy," Routhier said, "Mayor de Blasio should consider creating a Housing Command Center to increase access to the resources that will actually enable people to leave the streets and move into safe, stable homes of their own.”