eric.cartman said:
P.S. Can this be reported to the Police? Would they be able to do anything about it?
Yes, the police would be able to do something about it, at least around here. My municipality has an "aggressive panhandling" ordinance in place, and it is written specifically to address these kinds of idiots. Even if you aren't willing to sign a complaint for the transient's activities, you would still do well to advise the police of the situation. Many of the panhandlers where I work are drunk nearly 24/7, and a quick trip to DETOX will usually solve the problem for that day, even if we aren't charging them specifically for the panhandling!
Keep in mind that your average panhandler is probably looking for a drug or alcohol fix. While not every panhandler is a crack-head, almost all crack-heads are panhandlers. If you look deeply enough into any one of these situations, there is almost always an addiction of some kind, or mental illness in play. With that in mind, you can surely imagine that a lot of these people aren't exactly what we'd like to call "stable". Honestly, I'd say that the majority of these folks are generally non-violent, but there are certainly plenty of violent drug-charged criminals involved in panhandling activities.
Just on one corner in my district I know of at least three of the "regular" guys with extensive violent histories. One has assaulted police officers on three different occasions, been in prison for felony assaults dating back to the 1970's, and has committed numerous armed robberies. The second guy was convicted of murder back in the 80's, along with a string of other violent offenses, and the other remaining idiot is a violent sex offender. So, I always recommend that people approach these pandhandlers with due caution!
Another thing that I might add (at least around here) is that most transients are carrying some type of weapon. Even some of the more benign folks that I've dealt with for years --who have no documented history of violence-- usually have some type of weapon on them. Typically this consists of a knife, or other crude edged weapon (ice picks, etc).
Unfortunately, as you mentioned, people always reinforce this inappropriate behavior by giving money to the bums. I see it on a daily basis at nearly every busy intersection around here... Almost without fail, at least one person at every red light will hand at least a dollar out the window to the bums. Thus, business is good, so why would they quit?
dravur said:
That is true. Here in Denver, they had a camera crew follow a "bum" around one day. He was one of the "Will work for food" varieties that hang out at intersections.
They followed him to his car, then followed him to his home. They talked to him about it and he admitted he pulled down about $60k a year doing that.
And he had a heck of a tan.
Looks like you are in my neck-of-the-woods!
Yeah, I remember figures like that from back when I lived in Cleveland growing up. I'm not entirely surprised, given the number of folks that I see handing money to these bums! If you figure that they are getting even just $1 per 2 minute red light cycle, that can still be $30/hr (plus, I often see someone handing out either multiple bills, or fives and tens). Now figure four hours in the morning, four in the evening, 5 days per week... There's your $60k.
Realistically, I rarely catch one of these transients with more than a few dollars on them, but I should also add that I'm fairly certain that a lot of that money is quickly disappearing in a plume of crack smoke, or some form of liquid courage. I also wouldn't say that these guys work the "regular" hours that I stated in the last paragraph, but they can certainly pull in a decent little amount for standing there (more than they probably would if they were working a fast food job).
