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ordinances and codes without violating the federal judge's ruling. That is exactly what Marbut's plan does. Until a shelter is up and running, police and dep- uties must follow the Pottinger Protocols. The Sarasota Police Department leadership thought its officers were doing just that when they arranged for 30 days of free shelter to men and women they wanted to roust from a tent city in a bamboo thicket just north of Gillespie Park earlier this month. With a majority vote last week, the Sarasota City Commission instructed its police officers not to enforce codes and ordinances in the camp, even with the offer of free shelter at The Salvation Army. The officers were told to leave the camp alone unless they believed a serious crime had been committed. Since only days earlier a man had doused a woman with gasoline and threatened to set her afire, clearly there was a safety issue already involved. There is also a health issue. When the Army is on bivouac, it digs latrines, but transients do not. And the commissioners heard from a nurse about the health implications of ignor- ing even basic sanitation. But a majority of the commissioners were unmoved. Their plan to erect a north Sarasota shelter, which would not be ready for at least a year at the earliest, seems to trump even basic public health concerns. THE MIGRATION Once the Marbut shelter is open, county depu- ties and police from all local law enforcement agencies can offer ordinance and code viola- tors a choice: jail or the shelter. It is likely a majority will pick the shelter. So from North We have seen the basic transient shelter design advocated by Robert Marbut, the consultant hired by the city and county to advise them on homelessness and vagrancy. The design reflects Sutton's 50/50 split. Those who want to improve their lot can come inside the facil- ity. Those who do not are free to find shelter on a concrete slab under a pool-cage-type of shade structure. And they are free to come and go. Marbut's design offers meager but real shel- ter for those who want only that, while those who would like social services and other help would be kept separate — two populations of people with two very different goals. That is why, in my coverage, I refer to homelessness and vagrancy, because the two populations are not identical. PLAYING TO POTTINGER A federal court decision in Miami a decade ago reinforced what every law enforcement officer knows: Homelessness is not a crime. But activities associated with homelessness often are crimes — defecating in public, for example; causing an obstruction on a side- walk; panhandling; outdoor lodging — the list is long. But the court ruled that unless a community offers an alternative — public bathrooms, job training, a shelter for sleeping — police cannot make arrests for common human activities. The decision was named after one of the plain- tiffs, Michael Pottinger, a Miami homeless man arrested for sleeping in a park. And it led to the creation of what are called "Pottinger Protocols" by law enforcement organizations. They deal with how to legally enforce local OPINION Sarasota News Leader March 28, 2014 Page 89