New Bedford City Council discuss anti-panhandling ideas

By Ana Bottary

abottary@abc6.com

@anabottary

Panhandlers on busy street corners, a sight all too familiar in many cities and towns across Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
City councilors in New Bedford say people who live in the city have reached out on a number of occasions, complaining about what they call "aggressive begging". Councilors are in talks to get ahead of it.
 
"The goal is to first of all answer the constituency with some sort of solution to a problem they have made us aware of and are completely adamant about us doing something about. And that is getting aggressive panhandlers and aggressive beggars off of our streets,"says Councilman Henry Bousquet.
 
Mayor Jon Mitchell says it is something the city is concerned about.
 
"We are concerned about their appearances for sure, but we are also concerned about the individuals engaged in that type of behavior. It’s not good for them,"says Mayor Mitchell.
 
Councilman Henry Bousquet some ideas the council has discussed have been putting sheriff’s office deputies on medians where panhandlers are often stationed, more surveillance cameras and even, creating a public awareness campaign.

"To tell people, hey there are worthwhile organizations you can give to that help these folks. If you stop giving to them when they’re on the corner, they won’t stay on the corner waiting for some," adds Bousquet.
 
These proposals follow a failed effort earlier this month, to license all panhandlers.
 
"We had learned at a previous meeting about some letter or potential notice from the ACLU about an effort to perhaps license panhandlers. So we got a little more creative this time."

We did reach out to the Massachusetts ACLU. A spokesperson says these ideas are continuing down a path of making it seems like panhandling shouldn’t be going on when peaceful protest is legal. She adds in part, the city of New Bedford must have more serious crime and poverty problems than to be spending time and money on people peacefully panhandling.

"I think all of these ideas are well within the law. Essentially we are not trying to limit anybody’s speech. We just want to give the people of New Bedford a solution to a problem they’ve asked us to tackle,"says Bousquet.

(c)WLNE-TV 2016