HUFFINGTON
08.19.12
TAMPA’S MAVERICK COP
bureaucracy hasn’t come through,
and in those cases he’s turned to
less obvious resources. He’s called
in favors from local do-gooders.
He’s persuaded real-estate owners to let the homeless fix up their
abandoned properties in exchange
for a chance to stay in them. In
one instance, he got someone a job
at a ranch after the man muttered
something about having worked as
a show-horse trainer as a teenager.
Most of all, he’s tried to change
the very attitudes of homeless people themselves. He cajoles, scolds,
bullies, comforts, gives sermons
SINCE 2010, BY HIS
ACCOUNT AND OTHERS,
HE’S GOTTEN MORE
THAN 100 PEOPLE
OFF THE STREETS,
FOR A COST OF
VIRTUALLY NOTHING
BEYOND WHAT HE
ALREADY EARNS AS A
STREET-LEVEL COP.
and pep-talks and what you might
describe as counseling. Other police departments employ outreach
workers who alert the socialservice agencies when a homeless
camp crops up, but Donaldson may
be unique in trying to reverse the
tide of homelessness on his own,
by sheer dint of his personality.
One might assume he’s driven by
sympathy or compassion. “Absolutely not,” he says. He claims
he isn’t interested in helping the
homeless as such; he prefers to
frame his work in terms of helping his department do its job. Still,
he’s developed an obvious affection
for some of his “clients”, as he calls
them, and Swiger, he says, is his
“rock star.” He says if Swiger can
get off the streets, anyone can.
Swiger now lives in his own
house on a street lined with lush
tropical gardens and $200,000
homes. In the year he’s been there,
he’s put in a lawn, laid circular
stones in a winding path to his
front door, and planted a row of
trees bursting with crinkly red
and white blossoms. One afternoon recently, he sat in his living
room with Donaldson, reveling in
the ways his life has changed since
their meeting. He’s working five