"When a homeless camp was located nearby, my sons neighborhood experienced a rash of daylight burglaries (including his home), mail theft, and car break-ins."

Correlation does not imply causation. There may have been no connection. Most homeless people are not thieves. The only thing they all have in common is poverty and are not different from other poor people, or working-class people in general. Around 80 percent of the homeless are that way temporarily. No one's personal experiences are a good guide to the reality of a large social problem.

Many advocates for the homeless have taken in homeless people, and their experiences were not the same as yours. Mine wasn't, although I live in a one bedroom apartment so was glad when she found housing. Many advocates have a lot of experience with the homeless and have a very different point of view than yours. I have met and talked with homeless people and they did not strike me as threatening.