Homelessness and Safety: Why Dignity is the First Step to Security?

On any given night in Michigan, thousands of people are experiencing homelessness, many of whom are concentrated in the growing urban centers of West Michigan. With housing costs continuing to outpace income growth across the region, a widening gap has emerged between those who can afford stable housing and those who cannot.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness revealed that in 2023 alone, over a total of 8,997 individuals in the state had no stable place to sleep, with many relying on shelters, temporary accommodations, or public spaces.

This isn’t just a housing crisis—it’s a public safety challenge that affects entire communities, from downtown business districts to suburban neighborhoods. Homeless people face daily threats to their mental health, physical health, and overall life quality.

At the same time, cities, businesses, and residents must navigate the visible challenges homelessness creates in public environments. However, focusing only on enforcement or displacement doesn’t solve the problem—it merely moves it.

Recognizing the person behind the circumstance, affirming their human rights, and integrating dignity into every interaction can help reshape how we address homelessness and improve public safety across West Michigan.

Dignity in Public Safety: Starting with Human Recognition

In the security industry, it’s easy to prioritize protocols over people. But when interacting with people experiencing homelessness, the failure to treat them with dignity can escalate tensions, reinforce social stigmas, and contribute to mental illness, substance use, or confrontations that erode community trust.

Dignity in this context means acknowledging that each person has a story, a need, and a right to be treated fairly and respectfully. Many homeless individuals suffer from substance use disorder, chronic mental illness, or physical disabilities.

Others may have been forced onto the streets due to job loss, family separation, or the lack of transitional housing options. Without access to health care, food, employment, or supportive housing programs, their ability to regain financial stability and remain housed becomes increasingly limited.

Many families are affected—not just individuals. Entire households can lose their homes due to high rent burdens, job loss, or medical emergencies, and end up with no clear support network. Children raised in this instability often face lasting trauma.

When security personnel and community leaders approach these individuals with respect instead of suspicion, it leads to outcomes such as:

• Improved self-esteem and voluntary compliance
• Safer outcomes for both property owners and vulnerable populations
• De-escalation of potentially volatile encounters
• Increased willingness of homeless people to seek assistance and accept support services

In a region like West Michigan—where new urban development often borders marginalized populations—respectful engagement is not just an ethical imperative; it is a practical necessity.

Homelessness Is a Public Safety Issue, Not Just a Social Problem

Homelessness impacts every layer of society, from emergency response to economic activity, from public perception to long-term urban planning. It is not only a social concern—it is fundamentally a public safety issue.

Treating homelessness purely as a social services issue obscures its impact on community safety, public budgets, and the overall health of our cities.

To illustrate this more clearly, consider the following interconnected dimensions:

1. Public Space and Infrastructure Strain

When individuals have no stable housing, they are often forced to sleep in public areas. Sidewalks, transit stations, alleyways, and building entrances become temporary shelters, putting vulnerable people at risk of assault, illness, or legal penalties.

This leads to complaints from businesses and residents, increased wear on public infrastructure, and heightened demand for emergency services.

2. Health and Safety Hazards

Without consistent access to food, health care, or sanitation, people experiencing homelessness face constant threats to their physical and mental health.

In turn, this creates public health concerns, especially in areas with dense foot traffic. Unaddressed substance use, untreated mental illness, and exposure to harsh conditions contribute to repeat EMS and police calls.

3. Emergency Services Overload

Security officers, police, and EMTs often become the default responders to homelessness. However, these personnel are not always trained or equipped to address the root causes—such as substance use disorder, mental health crises, or the lack of transitional housing. This results in inefficient use of public resources and reactive, short-term fixes.

4. Cyclical Displacement and Criminalization

Homelessness frequently leads to legal trouble—not because individuals are violent or criminal by nature, but because they are forced to break rules that are incompatible with survival on the streets (e.g., loitering, trespassing, or sleeping in unauthorized areas).

These repeated legal interactions deepen instability and reduce an individual’s chance of finding employment, housing, or support.

5. Long-Term Cost to Society

Municipalities spend vast amounts on emergency interventions while investing far less in preventive efforts like job placement and rehabilitation programs. The failure to address root causes leads to systemic inefficiencies and a continued drain on public funds.

Five Principles: Dignity-Driven Security Practices for Safer Communities

To establish safer, healthier communities in West Michigan, the role of private security must evolve. These principles work best when reinforced through organizational commitment, continuous exposure, and collaboration with housing programs, mental health workers, and local nonprofits.

They serve as a roadmap to move beyond policing and toward public service that is as protective as it is compassionate.

The following principles outline how dignity-first security works—not just as policy, but as a practice.

1. Observe with Context, Not Assumption

Behavior should be evaluated within context.

Is a person sleeping in a doorway because they are intoxicated, or because they have no safe shelter? Understanding basic human needs such as sleep, warmth, and security allows security personnel to approach situations with discernment rather than judgment.

2. Engage with Empathy and Verbal Respect

Simple changes in language—"What do you need today?" instead of "Move along"—can build trust.

Dignity begins with communication that acknowledges human worth, especially in stressful encounters. Security guards are often the first and only representatives of authority a homeless person interacts with that day.

3. Connect People with Services, Not Just Remove Them

Security teams should be prepared to offer meaningful referrals to shelters, food banks, housing authorities, and health services. Knowing where to send someone in need transforms guards from barriers into bridges—an essential shift in addressing the housing crisis.

4. Protect Property with a Human Lens

While property protection remains central to security work, it must not override individual rights. Confiscating or discarding someone’s belongings without cause damages trust and can provoke escalation. Dignified policing protects both public and personal assets.

5. Build Long-Term Trust Through Presence and Consistency

A consistent, calm, and professional presence helps demystify authority figures and foster safe environments. When guards operate with predictability and care, homeless individuals begin to view them as part of the community, not enemies of it.

What are the Real Cost of Ignoring Dignity in Public Safety?

When we fail to treat homeless individuals with dignity, the cost is felt across every layer of society. The consequences aren’t just humanitarian—they’re economic, legal, operational, and reputational.

Dignity isn’t an optional courtesy—it is the foundation of public health, public safety, and a functioning democracy. A community that invests in dignity is one where people feel valued, heard, and supported.

1. Financial Costs

Municipalities bear the cost of emergency services, hospital readmissions, incarceration, and property damage when homelessness is handled reactively.

A single night in jail or a hospital stay costs significantly more than a night in transitional housing. Moreover, businesses often suffer lost revenue from negative public perception, vandalism, and reduced foot traffic.

2. Legal and Ethical Risks

Ignoring individual rights can lead to lawsuits, media scrutiny, and loss of public trust.

High-profile incidents of mistreatment damage not only a company's brand, but also public institutions. Ethical breaches further alienate vulnerable populations, making them harder to reach and help.

3. Societal Breakdown

A society that dismisses its most vulnerable is a society in decline.

When people are treated as problems to be pushed away rather than humans to be helped, empathy erodes. Children grow up witnessing these failures. Future generations inherit systems that prioritize force over support, division over inclusion.

Security Reimagined: From Enforcers to Community Stewards

Security services across West Michigan are uniquely positioned to help reframe the regional response to homelessness. This is not about neglecting safety—it’s about understanding the root causes of instability and using authority to uplift rather than push away.

When guards understand substance use, mental illness, and the challenges of housing access, their role shifts. They no longer just protect buildings—they protect communities. And in doing so, they contribute to:

• Safer streets for all residents
• Increased use of support services
• Enhanced community engagement
• Reduction in repeat incidents

Security, when driven by empathy, becomes more than enforcement—it becomes impact.

Grey Dog Security’s Dignity-Centered Approach in Action

In cities across West Michigan, the homelessness crisis is becoming more visible—and more urgent. From downtown Grand Rapids to the lakeshore corridors of Muskegon and Holland, public spaces are often where unsheltered individuals seek rest, warmth, or temporary refuge.

Unfortunately, these are also the spaces where negative encounters with law enforcement or security staff can reinforce cycles of trauma, mistrust, and displacement.

At Grey Dog Security, we reject the notion that security must mean exclusion. Our mission is simple but transformative: make public spaces safer for everyone, while upholding the inherent dignity of the most vulnerable.

Built for the Communities We Serve

Our team operates across West Michigan’s urban cores and surrounding townships, where the intersection of public safety, housing insecurity, and community perception is most fragile.

We don’t apply a one-size-fits-all model. We respond with localized, community-specific strategies rooted in trust, communication, and coordination.

Security That Centers Human Dignity

We Don’t Escalate—We Connect

Our officers are skilled to de-escalate tensions, not heighten them. A verbal interaction doesn’t need to lead to a citation, and presence doesn’t mean pressure.

We’re Present, Not Predatory

Whether posted at a downtown parking structure or patrolling a church campus, our staff prioritizes approachability over authority. We don’t just “watch”—we engage, listen, and guide.

We Know Local Resources

Officers are embedded with real-time awareness of area shelters, warming centers, detox facilities, and food programs. Instead of confrontation, we offer direction.

Rebuilding Trust in the Role of Security

In many parts of West Michigan, unsheltered individuals have learned to fear those in uniform. Our work is actively changing that.

Through a blend of presence, professionalism, and principled compassion, we help rebuild bridges between vulnerable populations and the neighborhoods they occupy.

We are:

• Showing up consistently, not just in crisis moments
• Providing continuity and accountability, especially in recurring high-need areas
• Elevating public expectations around what private security can and should do

Conclusion

Homelessness isn’t just a housing issue—it’s a reflection of how we value human life. Real safety begins with meeting basic needs. Without shelter, the cycle of poverty, exposure to drugs, and declining well being continues, overwhelming systems already at limited capacity.

Public safety is strongest when rooted in dignity—not displacement. That means protecting rights, not just property, and treating the unhoused not as a problem, but as people who deserve a chance at stability.

FAQ: Public Safety & Human Dignity in Security

1. Why is a dignity-centered response to homelessness important in West Michigan?

It redefines how cities like Grand Rapids, Muskegon, and Kalamazoo respond to visible homelessness—focusing on health, equity, and well-being over removal. Respecting every person’s housing status is not just compassionate; it’s essential to real solutions in regions facing rising poverty and system strain.

2. How is this different from traditional enforcement?

Traditional models often prioritize removal. Our department emphasizes presence, de-escalation, and connection. Many face mental health challenges, addiction, and system bottlenecks. The importance lies in offering stability, not just control.

3. Is homelessness caused by drug use or laziness?

While drugs may be present in some cases, root causes include job loss, domestic violence, and unaffordable housing. Reducing complex issues to stereotypes ignores the importance of solutions based in empathy and fact.

4. Why are shelters turning people away?

Shelters often operate at limited capacity, especially during winter. Some people avoid shelters due to safety concerns or strict rules. This highlights the need for skilled security personnel to engage respectfully and connect people to services based on housing status, not judgment.

5. What role should departments and cities play?

Departments, cities, and partners must go beyond enforcement—investing in collaboration across housing, healthcare, and security. Progress depends on recognizing the importance of treating every person, regardless of housing status, with dignity and care.