Handling panhandlers

Last week, a letter to the editor in the Lincoln Journal Star, Scared out of Downtown, took the City to task somewhat for the problem of panhandlers plying their trade downtown. In the past three years, panhandlers have settled in along 14th Street, roughly between Bennett Martin Public Library and the University of Nebraska Campus. This has been a huge concern for businesses and for the Children's Museum. They frequently talk to customers who have the same experience related by the letter's author.

Back in the primordial mist of my career as a foot patrolman, panhandling like this would have landed you in jail in a heartbeat. But that all changed with a series of Federal court cases that have basically ruled that panhandling is an exercise of one's First Amendment right to freedom of speech. Lincoln, like most cities, had to change it's ordinance to allow panhandling. It can be regulated, but not outlawed. The same court cases essentially describe the kinds of time, place, and manner regulations that are Constitutional. Thus, Lincoln's municipal ordinance outlaws panhandling at night, or within 20 feet of an ATM, or from people in a sidewalk cafe. Aggressive panhandling (profanity, threats, following a person and making repeated pleas after being turned down, etc.) is also prohibited.

But there are plenty of panhandling opportunities downtown, despite the restrictions, and plenty of people who are willing to give panhandlers a few bucks. The loosening of the law has also caused a proliferation of panhandling at other spots, such as the entrances to large shopping complexes. It is incredibly annoying to many business owners and many citizens, but we're not alone in Lincoln. The same problem plagues cities all over the country, and many police departments and city councils are vexed. Google "panhandling" and click the News link and you'll get the picture.

Here in Lincoln, we try to control the illegal and obnoxious behavior, without infringing on the Constitutional rights of the panhandlers. I've talked to several people who just want us to strong arm these panhandlers out of the City, and could care less about the Constitution or any Federal court cases. That's not how we operate, and we all swore an oath otherwise. So we work with the laws we have.

As of Friday, we had cited or arrested individuals downtown for 1,031 offenses related to this problem, including aggressive panhandling, panhandling in prohibited places, trespassing, and consuming alcohol in public. Our downtown officers work diligently on this issue. Arrests, however, do not solve the underlying problems of poverty, addiction, homelessness, and mental illness that underlie most of the panhandling.

The best thing anyone can do to reduce the panhandling problem is to give donations to organizations who help deal with these underlying problems, rather than giving money directly to panhandlers. That only encourages the behavior, and is actually a form of enabling in some cases, as the donation goes immediately to the nearest cheap liquor store. Not everyone feels the same way, though, and there are those who oppose efforts to control panhandling. It's a big world, and there are lots of conflicting opinions.

I guess the good news is that you know you're really a city when you've got a problem with downtown panhandling.