The article explores criminal justice interventions as applied to homeless populations and the perception that aggressive enforcement of crimes rooted in homelessness will deter other crimes and increase neighborhood productivity. The article asserts that the diversity of the homeless population and the need for drug abuse and mental health interventions among large portions of the population complicate the delivery of appropriate services. Traditional criminal justice handling including incarceration and criminalization of homelessness is deemed inadequate for its failure to provide appropriate social services to treat the root cause of the problem and further stress correctional resources. In recent years, jurisdictions have attempted to make use of more specialized courts, for example drug courts, to provide both social control and the treatment services needed to reduce recidivism and strain on criminal justice resources for certain other targeted populations, for example, drug addicts. The author presents an in-depth look at the policies adopted by New York City during the Giuliani administration (described as the application of the "Broken Windows" theory of crime deterrence). Common rationalizations for the criminalization of homelessness and the make-up of urban homeless populations are explored. The author presents a criminal justice model for intervention with homeless populations. Specifically, a model based on the emerging drug court concept is discussed as an appropriate diversion for mentally ill members of the homeless community. 188 notes