Why are there so many undercover cops at Homeless Connect?

Every other month, good hearted citizens of San Francisco volunteer, partnering with many community organizations to provide an array of health and human services ranging from low cost state ID's to free wheelchair repair and haircuts and accupunture and healthcare for animals for the very poor of the city. The project was started in 2006 and has served well over 10,000 people. Created by Alex Torke, the aide who recently quit the Newsome administration after Newsome's affair with his wife was revealed, the project model has been adopted by many cities. However today at the event one could not help but notice the immense police presense- both uniformed and undercover. Police were dressed as homeless people recieving services, were seen taking pictures and recording conversations. In a large event of well over a thousand people there was relatively little drama. Why then, must there be so many police and why are they doing such survillience of people engaging in recieving services froma private/public partnership? Is such a police prescence nessacary? Crowd control is one thing. Asking people to follow along lines are another. But this event was undergoing "serious surviilience and undercover work" according to once witness who saw "a bunch of homeless people and cops walk out together- like 50 and suddenly the homeless people where taking microphones out of their ears and cameras out of their clothes and talking to their cop buddies." The project website talks a compassionate line about building trust with multiple respectful contacts so that people can take steps towards self sufficency but one wonders- just where is the respect in such a heavy police presence? People throughout the Bill Graham auditorium where giving very personal information and "where in a vulnerable state. There was no reason to believe the person next to you in line or sitting next to you getting interviewed for one service or another was a cop." states a concerned volunteer. In the meantime the deathtoll for the city has risen to 20 since the beginning of the year. No one was murdered today at the Bill Graham auditorium but you might not know that, given how many police resources were spent policing the poor.