Slaying sparks backlash against homeless

[devilgrrl]

By RYAN J. FOLEY, Associated Press Writer

MADISON, Wis. - The slaying of a college student in a downtown neighborhood frequented by beggars has forced this liberal city to ask a difficult question: Has Madison been too nice to the homeless?

A debate over the city's friendly treatment of its transient population had been under way for months, but last week's killing of University of Wisconsin student Brittany Zimmermann started something of a backlash against the homeless.

Police have arrested dozens of transients on unrelated charges as part of the investigation, but none are considered suspects in the death. The city also announced plans Wednesday to confront problems at a nearby park where the homeless congregate, although those efforts were in the works before the murder.

Zimmermann was slain in her apartment in the middle of the day, in a neighborhood where homeless people often went door-to-door looking for cash. Police Chief Noble Wray said Thursday that he believes the killer broke into Zimmermann's building.

In late January, a 31-year-old man was killed in his home not far from Zimmermann's residence.

Police are questioning people in the neighborhood, including the relatively large concentration of transients.

"They are a focus of the investigation," police spokesman Joel DeSpain said.

More: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080410/ap_on_re_us/homeless_backlash

[ulysses]

1. sounds like the killing had little to do with the crackdown.

Last month, businessman Fred Mohs threatened to take away a church's free Sunday parking in a garage he owns unless the church closed a homeless shelter. The church refused to do so and lost its parking April 1.

"They were contributing to the infrastructure that concentrates vagrants in downtown Madison," said Mohs, a prominent Republican who was widely denounced as cold-hearted. "As a group, they are bad neighbors: public urination, scary panhandling, and more than average criminal behavior. We have to recognize this is bad for downtown."