Homeless Voice

by National Coalition for the Homeless

After passing an ordinance in 2007 making panhandling illegal in the “tourist triangle,” Atlanta’s Central Atlanta Progress, an alliance of downtown businesses, succeeded in persuading Mayor Shirley Franklin to present an ordinance outlawing panhandling in heavily visited downtown areas.

The ban made panhandling illegal within the “tourist triangle” and anywhere after dark. The ordinance also prohibits panhandling within 15 feet of an ATM, bus stop, taxi stand, pay phone, public toilet, or train station anywhere in the city. Not even the police could describe the areas included in the “tourist triangle.”

As a result, enforcement has been sporadic except for “street sweeps,” demanded by the developers of the Georgia Aquarium, the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, and other businesses.

On August 2nd 2008, police officers in Atlanta began dressing as tourists in order to catch people “aggressively begging” for money. This undercover effort was part of a “30-day crackdown” conceived and implemented by the commander of the police, Maj. Khirus Williams, who, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, had “received letters from visitors who said the begging was so bad that they were never going to come back to Atlanta.” The newspaper noted that while under normal circumstances a tourist typically did not return to testify in court against the defendant, Maj. Williams expressed hope that “having officers pose as tourists or office workers” would result in more convictions because the officers were certain to testify. By August 22, 2008, the officers arrested 44 39 people for panhandling and warned another 51. The Washington Post reported in October 2008 that the sting resulted in 50 arrests.