On Monday night the Police Department lead a multi-agency effort to round up the homeless off the streets.
By the time the operation was over the police had packed 21 people into their yellow bus including the blind and mentally retarded. Today vindication of some sorts came for eleven of the detainees when they were released back on the streets. Why? Well because they are mental health patients. This afternoon a representative from the Mental Health Services of the Medical Department handed a letter to the court saying that because of their mental illnesses the detainees are unable to understand clearly what is going on. This is because their illness limits their intellectual performance and reason. That was proof enough for the prosecution which withdrew the charges and the detainees were released and are again free to roam, or as the criminal charge puts it, "wander abroad."