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Crime & Safety

Ordinance Banning Panhandling To Get Final City Council Reading

Gig Harbor City Council members will decide at their Monday meeting whether to outlaw soliciting along public thoroughfares. The proposed ordinance stems from a reported increase in panhandling activity and crime.

Panhandling will be prohibited on Gig Harbor streets and intersections if, as expected, theon Monday adopts a proposed ordinance banning the practice.

Coming back for a second reading, the proposed Municipal Code addition would require anyone wanting to solicit money on public right-of-ways to obtain a special-event city permit.

The ordinance stems from an increase in panhandling activity and spike in crime at key city locations over the last couple of years.

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The issue has residents divided over the need to help those less fortunate versus fueling crime and encouraging more of the same kind of activity.

Councilman Derek Young said he started from the former position but has since turned 180 degrees.

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“I’ve been getting an increasing number of comments and e-mails from citizens complaining about the panhandling over the last few years,” he said. “In fact, I’ve probably gotten more e-mails over this than any other issue.”

Of particular concern is the intersection of Pt. Fosdick and Olympic drives, which has become a staple location for several panhandlers who also divide their time along the nearby State Highway 16 on-ramps.

“Mostly, we get calls from people upset about them waiving signs,” Police Chief Mike Davis said. “But there have also been a handful of fairly well-documented shoplifting cases, theft of purse and even a bank robbery.  These were crimes definitely associated with panhandlers.”

Davis said the Pt. Fosdick/Olympic drives intersection has seen the most panhandling.

“Individuals have selected this location because of the high volume of commuter traffic,” he said. “They distract drivers with their signage and are creating a safety hazard when entering traffic lanes to secure funds donated by drivers and passengers in passing vehicles.

“This type of behavior at a very busy and congested intersection increases the risk of collisions and puts pedestrians at a higher risk of being struck by passing vehicles.”

Davis said the also has received numerous complaints from citizens who feel “this sort of activity is not reflective of the positive culture we support in the City of Gig Harbor.”

“Citizens have also complained that the panhandlers sometimes become aggressive in their mannerisms, which can create feelings of intimidation,” the chief said.

Linda Counsell, a member of the “Women in Black” peace organization, said she feels badly about the ordinance.

“I don’t have any problem with them,” said Counsell, whose group often shares the same corner with panhandlers at Pt. Fosdick and Olympic drives on Fridays. “None of them has ever said anything bad to me or made me feel bad. I’ve never once seen any of them be aggressive.”

She and WIB co-member Pat West said some panhandlers are severely disabled.

“One fellow is blind in one eye. His eye is milky,” she said. “And several of them have something wrong with their leg -- not just a limp -- but where you can see it’s not working right. Certainly, the women seem to have some mental illness.

“If this is what people feel they can do to support themselves, I don’t have a problem with that.”

West said Gig Harbor merchants complain that panhandlers take away their business while operating without a business license.

“I’m confused by this attitude,” she said. “No one has to give anything to these people if they don’t want to. In Europe, this is a custom. You see people making a living by selling things on the street. I think it adds to the charm.”

Likewise, John Lantz, a member of the Morning Rotary Club of Gig Harbor, does not consider the panhandlers objectionable.

"They're very nice, just holding their signs," he said. "I personally don't think it's a problem, but obviously other people do."

Jackie Miller, who recently spent a couple of weekends raising money at the Pt. Fosdick and Olympic drives intersection on behalf of the Kitsap Humane Society, said she has talked to some of the panhandlers.

"The guy who was here last Saturday said he comes out here on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays," she said. "He said there's another guy who comes out here on Saturdays and Sundays who's pretty gruff. The one I was talking to said he lives in a tent and has terminal cancer."

"He said he was trying to get into the Tacoma (homeless) shelter, but they kicked him out. I don't know if it's true, or not. The guy said he rides the bus here from Tacoma."

Gig Harbor resident Carol Ewens used to work in a homeless shelter in Spokane. Ewens said many homeless people know how to work the system.

"They know which corners are most cash-friendly and they trade times with each other," she said. "It's a bit of a science. I know it must not set well for most Gig Harbor folks just because this is such a wealthy community."

Ewens said she has never seen Gig Harbor's panhandlers disrupt traffic or cause any trouble.

"If someone is truly poor and needs money, I think it make people uncomfortable," she said. "It makes them think, 'Oh, God, what do I have to do. Do I really have to stretch myself?' The other thing they think is, 'Are these people really that bad off or are they just taking advantage of the system?'"

According to Davis, the majority of Gig Harbor's panhandlers have been arrested for numerous crimes, including theft, assault and drug offenses. One was arrested for robbing a Gig Harbor bank.

“From our experience none of the panhandlers resides in our community,” he said. “They are driven here from areas such as Tacoma, which has an anti-panhandler ordinance in place.”

By prohibiting solicitations, police officers will have a tool to manage a risky activity, he said.

The ordinance does not preclude non-profit organizations from securing a special-event permit to solicit funds on city right-of-way.

For example, the local fire department for years has conducted a fund-raiser called “Fill the Boot,” which benefits muscular dystrophy research. During the event, firefighters solicit donations at city intersections.

Young said the problem with panhandling is that it has gone well beyond a simple nuisance. Pierce County and Gig Harbor’s neighbors -- Tacoma and Lakewood -- adopted similar ordinances and in so doing have pushed their panhandlers into Gig Harbor, he said.

“These are professional-type operations,” Young said. “We’ve learned that fact from the Tacoma and Lakewood police departments. They ride here and give people these hard-luck stories.”

“Some of these folks are not in a hard-luck situation at all. We’ve been able to verify that. Their stories aren’t really what they seem to be.”

As an example, Young said he was in the bank recently while one panhandler was making a cash deposit. In another instance, a “regular” Gig Harbor panhandler -- one supposedly disabled -- was seen walking away without any indication of a physical handicap, Young said.

Panhandling can be a lucrative trade given the right location, Davis noted. In fact, one panhandler and his cousin got into a fist fight over which one would set up shop on a particular corner of Pt. Fosdick and Olympic drives, the chief said.

Some of Gig Harbor’s panhandlers reportedly net as much as $180 per day in unreported income.

According to the proposed ordinance, it is meant to protect citizens by limiting the location of certain kinds of solicitation while providing for vehicular and pedestrian traffic safety. It would ban panhandling on public sidewalks, streets, highways, curbs, medians, parkways, shoulders, alleys, drives or other public right-of-way.

Another, existing section of Gig Harbor’s municipal code already addresses criminal trespassing on private property.

Assuming it is approved Monday, the new ordinance will become law five days after publication. Conviction for each offense would then carry a sentence of up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

As with most new ordinances, Davis said his officers will enforce this one gradually until the panhandlers become acquainted with it.

“We’re going to educate them and tell them this is what we’ve got in place now: `Vacate or get cited,’” he said.

Young and the chief said the city is not interested in harming people who are truly destitute.

“If we run into genuine hard-luck cases, the police are not going to immediately make an arrest,” Young said. “If there’s a legitimate problem, they’ll direct them to services that can help them.”

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