Panhandling (ABC 4 News)
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ABC 4 News - Advocates for the homeless say a crackdown is underway in downtown Salt Lake City. They say police are treating panhandlers like criminals.
Bill Tibbitts of the Crossroads Urban Center says instead of giving tickets out to people for panhandling that money should be used for job programs for the homeless. Tibbitts said,” The people we have been talking to have been getting tickets for standing on the sidewalk with the sign saying I need help.”
However, the mayor's office says there is no panhandling ordinance in place to enforce. Lisa Harrison Smith of the mayor's office says the city is focusing on the problem of aggressive panhandling. Harrison Smith said,” My reaction is that Salt Lake on a national scale has done an excellent job on job creation.”
Harrison Smith says you can't be thrown in jail or ticketed for panhandling.
Tibbitts and Crossroads conducted a two-month survey of panhandlers in Salt Lake. He says it showed that 91 percent of panhandlers are homeless, while 86 percent would prefer to be working rather than panhandling. Tibbitts says the unscientific poll interviewed only 22 panhandlers.
Bill Tibbitts of the Crossroads Urban Center says instead of giving tickets out to people for panhandling that money should be used for job programs for the homeless. Tibbitts said,” The people we have been talking to have been getting tickets for standing on the sidewalk with the sign saying I need help.”
However, the mayor's office says there is no panhandling ordinance in place to enforce. Lisa Harrison Smith of the mayor's office says the city is focusing on the problem of aggressive panhandling. Harrison Smith said,” My reaction is that Salt Lake on a national scale has done an excellent job on job creation.”
Harrison Smith says you can't be thrown in jail or ticketed for panhandling.
Tibbitts and Crossroads conducted a two-month survey of panhandlers in Salt Lake. He says it showed that 91 percent of panhandlers are homeless, while 86 percent would prefer to be working rather than panhandling. Tibbitts says the unscientific poll interviewed only 22 panhandlers.
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