For some homeless people, the phrase "Do the crime, serve the time" offers a solution to the question, "Where will Isleep tonight?" It's an unsatisfactory solution to a difficult, aggregating problem. Law enforcement officers need an alternative to jail for homeless people who commit petty crimes in order to get three meals and a bed.

That's what Maynard Elkins, 54, did Thursday. It has been reported that he told an employee of a local video store that he was going to steal something, he then took three video cords, was arrested and told the officers that he committed the theft in order to get a place to stay and a meal. Elkins was taken to the Burleigh County Detention Center, where the taxpayers are dinged $54 a day for his stay.

And Elkins did this kind of thing before, in December 2007. He was sentenced to one year in jail.

It didn't make good sense then. It doesn't make good sense now.

People are homeless for a lot of different reasons. One-size-fits-all solutions for homeless people rarely work. By the time a person or family finds itself homeless, all the easy solutions have been left behind. We don't know Mr. Elkins' story, but we do know committing crimes in order to get a place to stay isn't the answer to his problem.

For many in our community who are homeless and vulnerable, Ruth Meiers Hospitality House provides the answer. But even at Ruth Meiers, there are rules like no drinking. And in the story about Mr. Elkins, we learned that the Ruth Meiers shelter has been close to full in recent days. It's not like nothing is being done. A lot is being done. Both at the detention center and the Ruth Meiers shelter, people are appraised of the available community resources. And local churches have programs for the disadvantaged and homeless.

Police, prosecutors and judges need to enforce the law, but justice ought not be blind to the kind of scams like the one Mr. Elkins has used in the past. He doesn't belong in jail. But it isn't clear where he does belong.

We believe people need to be responsible for not only their actions, but also for their circumstances. It doesn't always work that way, and when it doesn't there needs to be some kind of safety net.