The types of crimes that transients generally commit, public order crimes, minor thefts, trespassing, etc. are exactly the low level types of crimes that people should not be jailed for in the first place.  Kudos to DPD and the courts for the creation of the Clinical Intervention Response Unit and the Outreach Court that would obviously seem to deal directly with the transient population and their (generally) very minor crimes and unique circumstances.  Being transient is not a crime and other socially acceptable people committing the same types of offenses would almost never be jailed.  
PS--I am and always have been a registered Republican, voted Republican in every state and national election since 1986.  It's not a political thing it's a humanity thing.