Amid a growing aggressive panhandling problem in Baton Rouge, Mayor Sharon Weston Broome’s office has submitted two items for introduction at tomorrow’s Metro Council meeting that would add three new offenses to the parish Code of Ordinances: aggressive solicitation and harassment, false or misleading representation, and obstruction of sidewalks.
Though the two are often linked, Broome’s spokesman, Mark Armstrong, stresses that the proposal is not intended to criminalize homelessness—a separate issue from the aggressive panhandling that local businesses have seen escalate over the past year.
“This is not someone who’s just asking you for help, it’s anyone who’s violating personal boundaries,” Armstrong says, noting the item’s language reflects the laws in place in some other model cities. “Compassion has always been a tenet of the mayor’s approach to this issue. This also allows us to connect individuals who might be experiencing homelessness with the proper services in the community.”
As defined by the proposed ordinance, aggressive solicitation and harassment can manifest in a handful of ways, including soliciting money by:
• Blocking any legal parking area or structure so that cars can’t enter or exit that parking area;
• Harassing the person solicited (making any threats or demands that place the person being solicited in reasonable fear of harm or damage to their property);
• Following a person or group of people with the intent to harass that person or group of people;
• Soliciting a person while they’re either operating or preparing to operate an ATM;
• Entering the premises of private property or a defined neighborhood to solicit when a “No Solicitors” sign is posted;
• Standing in a roadway soliciting motorists or other people.
Meanwhile, “false or misleading representation” would occur when a person knowingly and intentionally makes any false or misleading representations in the course of soliciting a donation. This includes people who are pretending to either be homeless or connected to another organization in order to collect money from passersby.
The ordinance would also make it illegal for any person to sit or lie down on a public sidewalk, median or any other public right of way, as they’d be violating an “obstruction of sidewalk” ordinance. Still, there are several exceptions to this, such as when a person is sitting on a chair or bench located on one of the identified properties that is supplied by a public agency.
Whoever is found guilty of violating any of the three offenses would, once convicted, either be fined as much as $25 or sentenced to 20 hours of court-approved community service. Upon a second offense, the person would be fined no more than $250 or sentenced to 60 hours of community service.
However, the court may waive these penalties if the offender can prove that they’re experiencing literal homelessness, at risk of homelessness, fleeing domestic violence or have sought services from a coordinated access entry point agency to help find employment or shelter, or if the person requests homelessness housing services through the Louisiana Balance of State Continuum of Care within 72 hours of the offense.
With aggressive panhandling arguably most concentrated in downtown Baton Rouge, the items were also discussed at this morning’s Downtown Development District meeting.
Read the proposal here, and a read a recent Business Report cover package highlighting the issue.
[polldaddy poll=10518404]
