For the first time ever, a blanket court order was issued during this weekend's blizzard allowing police officers and outreach workers to bring homeless people to shelters against their will.
According to Rob Hess, the deputy managing director for special housing in Philadelphia, this action was taken to prevent possible deaths resulting from the massive storm and cold temperatures.
The majority of those transported to shelter came of their own free will. In all, the court order was only exercised in three instances.
"It was done as a precaution to do everything we could to avoid people freezing to death on our streets," Hess said. "It was purely to preserve life that we asked the city solicitor to go to the court and obtain the order, and then we used it judiciously."
This court order was in response to the city's declaration of a "Code Blue" -- a winter emergency declared when the temperature has dropped below 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
When a snow emergency is declared, it is mandatory that homeless people are taken off the street, said city spokesman Dan Fee. In prior instances, however, an individual court order was needed for each specific person who refused aid.
"An outreach team member or police officer can offer services to somebody on the street," Hess said. "If they refuse them, [and] if there are dangerous conditions, they have a protocol that they work through."
This protocol includes recording the location, date and time, as well as the names of both the outreach worker and the individual living on the street. Shelter is then offered twice.
The city received a weather forecast last weekend that predicted high winds and whiteout conditions that would make it exceedingly difficult to find at-risk individuals on the streets.
"Given that prediction, it was clear to us that we couldn't go through that process with anybody left on the street, and that people on the street could very well be at serious risk of exposure and perhaps even death from exposure," Hess said.
