Cleveland's new panhandling law:

[asthmaticeog]

Basics of the Anti-Aggressive Panhandler Law

~No Following, Approaching,
Touching, Continued solicitation
after being told ‘no’, Blocking safe
passage to or from a vehicle or
Retail establishment. Using obscene
language or gestures.

~No Panhandling within 20 feet of an
ATM, Bus Stop, Pedestrians waiting
to gain access to a building or event,
Outdoor Restaurant area, Valet Zone.

~No Panhandling within 15 feet of a
Public Toilet or Pay Phone.

~No Panhandling within 10 feet of a
Building Entrance or Parking Lot
Entrance.

~Aggressive Panhandling Police calls
should be directed to ***-****

Any other cities have ordinances like this? I can't say that I object to this entirely, it's in response to a real problem - panhandlers around here have become astonishingly hostile lately, but on the other hand, that's because homelessness has gone through the roof. While this law was arguably necessary, it's not accompanied by any effort to relieve the increasing desperation of so many impoverished Clevelanders.

Thoughts?

[Dr.Phool]

1. After Jane Campbell laid off half the Police Dept.

Who the hell is gonna enforce it?

As if Cleveland doesn't have enough problems.

[JimmyJazz]

2. How would they even begin to enforce such an ordinance? What are they

going to do? Fine these people? Put them in the already overcrowded jails?

[asthmaticeog]

6. Exactly.

It's not like there are any cops around, anyway. And I've seen the overcrowding in the jail firsthand (as a photojournalist, NOT as a detainee), they're at *triple* capacity as it is, there's no way they can accomodate all the panhandlers who violate this ordinance.

It also occurs to me, what are they going to do to alert the homeless population to the new laws, anyway?

[youngdem]

3. I think if..

I was hungry, unemployed, homeless, and having to resort to begging from people for any of the above, and people kept walking by ignoring, shunning, and humiliating me. I would maybe become a little aggressive also. Again people pass ordinances, without addressing the main issues that need to be addressed, like why in the hell are these people on the streets anyway? It is a shame that our so called "government" continues to ignore the real problems.

While there are many private and state programs available to help, it is still not enough! People need to open their eyes and speak up to the crisis our homeless population is facing, it can happen to anyone at anytime.


So my thought: f* the "city" ordinance

Edited for typo

[Norquist Nemesis]

4. Too bad they specified Retail establishments

But then again, it's the modus operandi of anti-Democrats to block access to things they disagree with.

Ok, Democrats! Line up with signs in front of your local anti-Democratic Office! "Clean the House and throw out the trash! Toss Bush!"

[Dr.Phool]

7. Only problem is

Clevelands mayor is a Democrat, as is every member of City Council.

[formerrepuke]

5. I work in downtown Cleveland (and live in the city, too). The law is

mostly symbolic.. ammo for merchants and pedestrians to threaten agressive panhandlers with. The morality of such a law notwithstanding, the panhandling problem is severe- so much so that out-of-towners are understandably intimidated by them. I have been followed, yelled at, and threatened over the years. Compassion dries up real quick when public and private (faith-based) services abound- yet there are those who apparently cannot make the effort to utilize them.

[asthmaticeog]

8. Yeah, I work in the warehouse district.

It's awful down here. I've got a series of alternate routes to and from work for when I spot certain guys who've given me a seriously hard time in the past.

I would dispute that services "abound," though - Food Not Bombs is only around once a week, the downtown and Tremont churches lack the resources to help *everyone* (though Old Stone, Malachi and Augustine's do an admirable job of trying), and there's FAR too little shelter space. NEOCH lacks the funding to do as much as is needed, too.

[megatherium]

10. The sad fact is that many panhandlers panhandle

because public and private services do not provide what they actually want: drugs or alcohol.

Other cities have passed similar laws. Portland, Oregon, and Seattle have passed laws to combat panhandling. Downtown merchants were very distressed because the panhandlers were scaring away customers, who have the option of shopping in malls (which being private property can eject panhandlers). In Portland, the city had people patrol downtown, wearing special red jackets. They were there to help tourists, but their primary purpose was to watch for panhandlers, and then to ask passersby to not give money to them (warning them that this only enables panhandlers to continue to use drugs and alcohol).

[DemoTex]

9. Dallas passed a similar panhandling ordinance a couple of years ago.

Now they are trying to move some relief agencies from the downtown area. It is a "starve the homeless" strategy and it is not working. The homeless population in Dallas just keeps growing.

The Stewpot - a downtown Dallas soup kitchen where I used to do volunteer work - now serves record numbers of free lunches every day. When I sorted and distributed the mail at the Stewpot (up until 4/2004 when I moved from Dallas), I was seeing more and more mail forwarded to homeless clients from previous middle-class addresses.

However, Asthmaticeog hit the nail on the head: While this law was arguably necessary, it's not accompanied by any effort to relieve the increasing desperation of so many impoverished Clevelanders. The same can certainly be said of Dallas.