Burgeoning panhandling community near Beach/9A

[DavidWilliams]

My wife has to deal with these people on a daily basis when she's driving to work. They scare her. I can't believe there are no regulations or laws banning panhandling in traffic or approaching stopped vehicles for money.

There are laws...just depends on whether the cops are around at the time (and, if given cop(s) choose to do anything about it. Panhandling/begging obstructing a road to do the previous are all against the law. Most cases a municipal ordinance violation. If the turd is real persistent and has priors it will turn into a criminal case. 

[Ernest Street]

If they approach your car roll up the windows and ignore them.....if they bitch.. LEAN ON YOUR HORN!!! (even better for those that have those train horns.)
If someone had to encounter them every day, I would just make up a sign saying "UN-EMPLOYED"...Or just plain "BROKE"

[NotNow]

Begging itself is not illegal.  Only if blocking traffic or standing in a right of way.  

[DavidWilliams]

If not already on the books...being a turd (not factoring for the ones that are career criminals etc) should at least carry a MM penalty (as opposed to the civil ordinance violations that that they rack up with their repetitive trespass, drinking in public etc charges). The majority of these folks are not only annoying but way aggressive and in some cases quite dangerous.

[YellowBluffRoad]

Maybe I'm reminiscing too much from the Englewood thread, but when I worked as a waitress in high school off University & Richard Rd, the I-95 / University Blvd. panhandlers raked in more dough than the wait staff did. I know little has changed since then. While I sympathize with the local homeless population, I have little sympathy for the professional panhandlers who make well above minimum wage, don't declare and pay taxes on their income, and curse at people who try ignore their little scams.

[north miami]

During a visit to Sanfrancisco a couple of years ago my wife & I witnessed many panhandling attempts- and yes,some of the individuals proved aggressive and dangerous.
Interesting- no panhandlers in China Town.

In Miami panhandlers openly fought for the rights to certain lucrative roadway intersections....I would love to see a demographic study that could profile why some areas prove more lucrative than others.

[Cricket]

Panhandling is outlawed in some cities, although there are always sympathizers who claim that it penalizes poverty. Ordinances in Nashville, Fayetteville and St. Pete make it illegal to panhandle aggressively anywhere in the city, or in certain tourist-frequented zones or near ATMs.

Sometimes it is fairly easy to spot the scams from the genuine. For example, there is a woman in a wheelchair with her husband alongside her on US 1 downtown St. Augustine. Other times, I see the same couple, this time the man is in the wheelchair and his wife is standing alongside.

But I do have a profound compassion for the ones that are obvious veterans who resort to begging. Most of us would be surprised to know the number of panhandlers who have served this country but somehow have fallen through the cracks.

[cline]

Panhandling is outlawed in some cities, although there are always sympathizers who claim that it penalizes poverty. Ordinances in Nashville, Fayetteville and St. Pete make it illegal to panhandle aggressively anywhere in the city, or in certain tourist-frequented zones or near ATMs.

I think I read somewhere recently that Gainesville was ranked as one of the most unfriendly cities towards the homeless.

[Dog Walker]

Cricket, most of those "veterans" you see begging are either lying, or if they are over fifty, were drafted and spent their two years in the Army against their will.  It's usually just another ploy like the wheelchair.

[NotNow]

I agree, DW.  Most of the "homeless veterans" that I have come into contact with can't give a legitimate unit that they were assigned to, or their age does not make it possible for them to have served in the theatre that they claim.  The real "homeless veteran" is more myth than real IMHO.  Although many veterans are homeless, they fall in line statistically with the general population as far as numbers and the causes (usually substance abuse and/or mental health issues) in my experience.

[copperfiend]

There is a guy at 9A/UNF Drive with a sign that says "Need Money for Gas". He has been there everyday this week.

[Cricket]

Thanks for the eye-opener. I'll be a bit more skeptical of these panhandlers in fatigue shirts. I heard recently of a local organization looking to match the skills of some of these unemployed returning vets with potential job interviewers and that some companies are eager to sign up with this agency (maybe someone knows more about this organization.)

[thekillingwax]

I haven't seen them recently but some folks were running a scam at Wal-Marts. You know how various groups set up donation tables at the entrances (I think Wal-Mart runs them off now), there used to be one that said it was a veteran's group and they had guys with crew cuts standing out there asking for money. One guy had a mishmash of knock-off US camo with a woodland top and tigerstripe pants. The other idiot out there was dressed in freaking German flecktarn. He asked me to donate. I asked him what rank he held in the bundewehr. He looked confused and walked off.

I wondered if these jerkbags are the same scum that run the "Allied Veteran" gambling halls?

[Overstreet]

............In Miami panhandlers openly fought for the rights to certain lucrative roadway intersections....I would love to see a demographic study that could profile why some areas prove more lucrative than others............

Back in the late 80s early 90s there was a murder at Wells Rd and Blanding. Two panhandlers killed the third cause he was moving into their corner. I forgot the daily "take" but it equalled what I was making working full time.

[north miami]

I recall Miami Herald reports to the effect that the annual take at one particular area was on the order of about $60,000