According to the Lubbock Police Homeless Outreach Team, there are roughly 430 homeless people currently living in Lubbock.
As the summer months approach, the team will start going out on bicycles rather than their large vehicles to help better connect with the homeless community.
Sergeat Steven Bergen said he first came up with the idea for the homeless outreach team while he was working robbery homicides, and he met a man who was homeless and he saw an opportunity.
“The individual who committed a homicide was homeless himself, and I got to know him through the course of the year and he said he had never been treated so well and that dumbfounded me,” Bergen said.
There’s only three people on the team, this summer they will be riding their bicycles and handing out medical packages and socks. Officer Corey Archambault said it’s important to help people with potential employment opportunities.
“One of the most important thing for us is to have contacts, we have contacts at Workforce Solutions and Goodwill Industries, and so we are able to get jobs for people who need jobs,” Archambault