The Springfield Police Department has a new Street Outreach Team to work with the city’s unsheltered population.
The two officers will focus on building trust, offering support and connecting people with resources.
SPD’s Major Eric Reece said part of their job will also be enforcement.
"So Street Outreach Team's job is to basically liaison with our current homeless population to try to do several things: One, get to know them and, by getting to know them, know what their individual needs are for what kind of resources we need to find to help them," he said.
"And then the other part of that is we will be enforcing state municipal laws. So it's kind of a 3-pronged approach with the population to try to make a difference in their lives and also in the public safety aspect of the city."
He said they respond daily to calls regarding the unsheltered population -- mostly to trespassing calls from property owners and to concerns about a person who appears to need medical help. He hopes those calls can be diverted to the Street Outreach Team, which can offer education and help.
The team will work closely with local nonprofits and healthcare providers.
Reece said the ultimate goal is to help the unsheltered population get back on their feet "and get their lives restored to where they become, you know, kind of productive citizens again. And if that happens, that will actually reduce our calls for service, which will free up officer time to deal with other issues that the community is dealing with."
The Street Outreach Team began their work on Monday.
