Helping, policing Lakeland's homeless

LAKELAND - Usually, it takes two police officers to play "Good Cop, Bad Cop."

But Marcus Baker does it all by himself.

He is the first Lakeland police officer assigned to patrol the city's three downtown homeless shelters.

His mission is twofold: first, he wants to help people who want to help themselves.

"(I'm) here to help them get housing. I am here to help them get jobs," Baker said.

He has also been put on this unusual beat to weed out troublemakers. In the last two months, he has made nearly two dozen arrests for prostitution, drugs, and other offenses.

Recently, Lakeland has been focusing on cracking down on homeless people who commit crimes. Earlier this week, the city commission made it illegal to sleep on the streets.

Until now, if there was a problem in or near the shelters, they would have to call the police for help.

"Now you have someone who knows the problem first hand, doesn't come in and out of the area just for calls for service, but is stationed right here, five days a week," said Assist. Lakeland Police Chief Bill LePere.