New Library 2.0 Podcast: "Interview with Christian Riehl on Homelessness" | Thursday Webinar: "First Amendment 'Auditors'"

We've just posted a new Dr. Albrecht podcast in our "Library Service, Safety, & Security" section of Library 2.0: "Interview with Christian Riehl on Homelessness." Christian is a Homeless Outreach Coordinator at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and he gives advice for helping those who are experiencing homelessness and for when a library might be challenged with problematic behavior.

Albrecht: "What do you think the average patrol officer or patrol deputy doesn't get about homelessness, doesn't understand about the homeless population? What do you think the gaps in their knowledge are most about?"

Riel: "...Homelessness is not a criminal matter. Unless they're committing a crime, then that's a different story. But if someone asks them, "hey, can you can you remove this person in my property?" the deputies could actually ask them to leave, but if it's in a private area, if that's a public area, and they're a patron, that's the difficult part. So the balance there is how know how good the deputy is to defuse the situation and offer a solution versus taking a person out [of the area]. So depending on the tool that he has, or knowledge, that's, that's kind of like the game changer. On our side, we actually train some of the deputies, and they have our numbers. And when they get a call, they will actually piggyback with us and ask them, "hey, I got this guy in the library, or I got this guy who needs help... how can we help them?" So by doing that, it makes it a more humanitarian way versus arresting your way, in a sense, out of the problem. So we all work with each other... our relationship with law enforcement, the county workers who assist with homelessness or nonprofits--those are your key elements, those are your key ingredients to serve the population that is in dire need of help."

Listen to the podcast here. 

While Dr. Albrecht's twice-monthly podcast and blog posts are available for free, as are our regular mini-conferences and all the conference recordings, we also offer a series of Dr. Albrecht paid webinars and recordings which are available for individual or group viewing here.

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DR. STEVE ALBRECHT

Since 2000, Dr. Steve Albrecht has trained thousands of library employees in 25+ states, live and online, in service, safety, and security. His programs are fast, entertaining, and provide tools that can be put to use immediately in the library workspace with all types of patrons. In 2015, the ALA published his book, Library Security: Better Communication, Safer Facilities. He is currently writing the sequel, The Safe Library: Keeping Staff and Patrons Secure in a Changing World.

Steve holds a doctoral degree in Business Administration (D.B.A.), an M.A. in Security Management, a B.A. in English, and a B.S. in Psychology. He is board-certified in HR, security management, employee coaching, and threat assessment.

He has written 24 books on business, security, and leadership topics. He lives with seven dogs, two cats, and three chickens.