New state law targets ‘hustlers’
Aggressive panhandling may lead to jail
A new state law cracking down on aggressive panhandling is drawing mixed reviews in Memphis, where the Downtown landscape is littered with failed attempts to rein in the time-honored tradition of begging for money.
Downtown boosters praised the law, saying it would put teeth in a long-running push to stop panhandlers from bothering residents and visitors from near and far.
A social justice advocate slammed it, describing it as an attempt to sweep poor people out of more affluent areas.
“It’s a racist, stupid law that is going to be unenforceable because of the cost it would put on counties” to put offenders in jail, said Bradley Watkins, executive director of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. “You call it aggressive panhandling so you can move people out of tourist areas and high-income areas.”
The law says a panhandler can’t touch a person without permission, block the person’s way, follow the person or make “any statement, gesture or other communication that
would cause a reasonable person to feel fear of personal harm for refusing a solicitation of a donation.”
Because the new law carries a threat of jail time for a second offense, police and Downtown Memphis Commission officials said it would add muscle to enforcement. City ordinances place many of the same restrictions on panhandling but carry a maximum $50 fine as punishment.
“Downtown, our problem is the guys who constantly walk and try to find these out-of-towners to take advantage of them,” said police Lt. William Woodard of the South Main Precinct. “It leaves a bad taste in tourists’ mouths.”
The new law isn’t aimed at passive solicitation, in which people sit with signs that ask for contributions. Woodard said, “We’re not going to heavy-hand those people who are not really bothering anyone.”
“The guys we’ve got here are hustlers,” he said. “They come up to (tourists). They impersonate tour guides. They follow them from one hotel to another. They won’t leave them alone.”
Downtown’s past efforts included installation of donation receptacles that look like parking meters, with signs urging people to say no to panhandlers, but to instead donate loose change for organizations that support the homeless. Some of those receptacles until recently could still be found along Main Street.
Five years ago, the Downtown Memphis Commission sought a ban on panhandling in the central business district. The resulting compromise included rules of engagement for panhandlers and the establishment of four zones where panhandling is allowed Downtown: east and west sides of Court Square on Main; Civic Center Plaza; and Second and Court.
Jerome Rubin, Downtown Memphis Commission vice president of operations, said the ordinance hasn’t been as effective as officials hoped.
“Those locations were never sufficiently lucrative (for panhandlers), so they never used them,” Rubin said. “They just reverted back to their normal thing of accosting people all over Downtown.”
Rubin said Downtown has probably a dozen hardcore hustlers who prey mostly on people unfamiliar with the surroundings. “If we could get rid of those dozen people, our problems would be negligible.”
Debra Streeter, the commission’s security and code enforcement manager, agreed. Reported incidents of panhandling consistently run about 395 to 400 a year, and she estimated 75 to 80 percent of incidents are the same dozen people. The commission logs incidents reported by victims, its own security officers and the Downtown guides called the Blue Suede Brigade ambassadors.
Officials didn’t know how many citations were issued by police.
“This will add a little bit more meat to these repeat offenders,” Streeter said.
Panhandlers have treated the potential fines as a cost of doing business, she said. “They knew it was just a fine and said, ‘OK, I pay a $50 fine but I collected $300.’”
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, and Rep. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, received final passage by the General Assembly last Wednesday and awaited the governor’s signature. The first offense is a Class C misdemeanor. A subsequent offense would be a Class B misdemeanor carrying a fine and up to 90 days in prison, or both. The measure would take effect July 1.
The law left passive solicitors wary about what legislators might do next.
Current city panhandling rules exempt “a person who passively stands or sits with a sign or other indication that one is seeking donations, without addressing any solicitation to any specific person ...”
David Preslar, a homeless man who lives in an outdoor encampment, said, “What I do, I don’t consider panhandling. I stand on the street corner with a sign and ask for money. If they want to give, it’s up to them.”
When Preslar heard about the new law, “I said, ‘They’re going to be moving towards us next.’ Everywhere we go, they tell us to go somewhere else.”
Downtown our problem is the guys who constantly walk and try to find these outof-towners to take advantage of them. It leaves a bad taste in tourists’ mouths.” Lt. William Woodard, South Main Police Precinct