[4] Proponents claim that sit-lie ordinances are a tool to engage people and direct them to services such as restrooms, benches, and day shelters.
[5] Critics argue that such ordinances are a criminalization of homelessness, a criminalization of ordinary activities – hence prone to selective enforcement – and unnecessary, since existing, narrowly targeted laws ban the undesirable activities such as aggressive begging, obstruction of sidewalks, loitering, and aggressive pursuit.
[7] In San Francisco, a sit-lie ordinance was proposed in March 2010 by Mayor Gavin Newsom, but generated strong opposition under the banners of "Sidewalks Are for People" and "Stand Against Sit/Lie".
SFPD's current policy focuses on steering homeless people to shelters, rather than arresting them (which is basically giving the suspect a ticket and a court date).
[12] A 2015 study by graduate students at the University of Hawaii Department of Urban and Regional Planning surveyed 70 homeless individuals.