BOISE - Robert Martin has been sleeping on the streets of Boise for more than two months. He claims Boise police harass him after dark for simply sitting.

"I'm tired of being targeted and harassed just because of my situation," he said.

Martin tells 2News that he's been cited for disorderly conduct for camping and being in a park after dark. While he does admit he has broken the law, he says police don't apply that law uniformly.

"As soon as anybody sits down there that looks homeless the cops come in and give them a ticket for being in the park after hours," he said. "They don't do anything about the skaters (or other people using the park after hours)."

The city is working on making things a little easier for police and the homeless. Jim Birdsall manages the Housing and Community Development.

"That's what were are trying to focus on are humane solutions," he said.

His office is working on a system in which shelters can report how many beds are available. That information will be available to a police officer who would then direct the homeless person to the shelter instead of issuing a citation. And if all the shelters are full then citations will not be issued, according to Birdsall.

However the system won't be in place for weeks. In the mean time homelessness is up 30 percent already this year over last, according to the Boise Rescue Mission.

"We've seen more first time homeless people this year that we've ever seen in the history of the rescue mission," said Rev. Bill Roscoe, Executive Director.

However, he says they haven't had to turn anyone away yet but things are crowded.

"This might mean we have to convert some offices into sleeping spaces before this winter is over," he said. 25 to 30 men have to sleep on the floor. And overcrowded shelters mean many homeless don't go.

"There is still no help," said Martin. "There hasn't been anything more to actually deal with the is situation in the way it should be dealt with."