Officer Scott A. Russell of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department was the first law enforcement partner of a two-man operation called the Homeless Outreach Team in 1999.  He probably never imagined he would be doing social work as a police officer when he signed up for the police academy.  I am sure he had the same thoughts about police work that most people who have never done it before do, catch the bad guys, put them in jail, keep the city safe.  Officer Scott Russell eventually opened his mind to the idea that helping homeless people get connected to services and housing was so much more effective than arresting them for “Quality-of-Life” crimes.   

With the help of the relationship and friendship he developed with Courtney, he realized that no municipality was ever going to “arrest their way out of homelessness”. Scott realized the strength of their different approaches, connections, and experiences to help more people than they would be able to help in each of their roles individually.  Scott could make sure people on the streets knew that laws still needed to be obeyed and if there were people trying to hurt people who were unsheltered, he would be there to help the victims. While Courtney could use his lived experience of homelessness to let people know that he and Scott were first and foremost there to help them. 

In his role as a law enforcement officer, he was also able to change the way policing for homeless people was done in many communities.  Not many cities or counties had ever seen this kind of relationship before and most law enforcement officers who heard about it were skeptical.  As news spread of this unusual relationship and the effectiveness of their efforts many agencies started reaching out to hear from the cop and his partner.  Scott’s part of the presentation was simple yet effective, his message over and over was that this way works better than arresting people for being homeless.     

One officer who worked with him described him this way - Scott Russell poured into thousands of law enforcement officers the knowledge, skills, and abilities that it takes to better understand the plight of homelessness. He showed the importance of working together with social services to help individuals experiencing homelessness “recapture and regain” their lives. He firmly believed that “doing the right thing is what matters most.” He never believed that our homeless neighbors deserved anything less than respect, human dignity, and hope for their future, as he referred to law enforcement officers as “hope dispensers.” 

Although he is not the type to admit his success openly, his work paved the way in training law enforcement officers in both mental health and homelessness, including such important work as the proper use of the Baker Act and the establishment of Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Training. Those efforts led to hundreds of individuals and families no longer being homeless and helped to lower the jail population as a result. Scott was instrumental in changing policing practices in Broward County and many other areas. 

He served as a member of the TaskForce Board, the HHOPE Chronic Initiative Steering Committee, the SAMH Advisory Board, the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Team and was also the Coordinator of the Chaplaincy program for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.   

He received recognition for his advocacy efforts being nominated twice and winning in 2001 the Florida Coalition for the Homeless’ Advocate of the Year Award. He also received the NAMI Times Award in 2003. 

Scott helped usher in a new way of policing for homeless individuals and paved the way for the relationship between the TaskForce and law enforcement agencies to grow stronger and stronger.