Poland's police take to streets to count homeless
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
22.01.2015 12:02
Police and city guards across the country carried out a count of homeless people on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
Searching for homeless people in Lodz, central Poland. Photo: PAP/Grzegorz Michalowski
Places typically frequented by the homeless were visited as part of an initiative led by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy.
The officers were accompanied by social workers, who tried to encourage people sleeping rough to take part in aid programmes.
However, Michał Narożniak, who works for the Social Welfare Centre in Warsaw's Bemowo district, told Polish Radio that most homeless people do not want to take advantage of such offers.
''They choose a strange kind of freedom,'' he reflected.
''They don't want to sleep in dormitories or shelters,'' he stressed.
The last count of Poland's homeless took place two years ago. The findings indicated that there were about 31,000 people sleeping rough at that time.
It is estimated that in Warsaw alone there are from 2,500 to 3,000 homeless people.
Approximately 80 percent of all the homeless are male. (nh)
Source: IAR
Source: IAR