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Athens — Erin Martin said she became accustomed to seeing the same street people hanging around College Square, right across from the University of Georgia campus.

"But now, there are people I don't recognize," said Martin, manager of Native America Gallery on Clayton Street. "There seems to be an influx of unfamiliar faces."

REBECCA McCARTHY/AJC (ENLARGE)

Tony Arnold, owner of Jackson Street Books, believes one draw for panhandlers is Athens' large student population, who give 'because they don't want to be mean.'

Athens has become a regional hub for the homeless, say police and leaders of social service agencies. Homeless people from surrounding counties are routinely dropped off downtown, at Georgia Square Mall and at the Salvation Army.

Athens police Chief Jack Lumpkin said it's a national trend for suburban or rural counties to dump homeless people in urban counties. He said law enforcement officers from neighboring counties have been documented bringing people to Athens.

"In these other communities, I would suspect they are leading the person to believe their status will be better in the end," Lumpkin said. "That's how they get them to move of their own free will. This isn't illegal."

Juanita Archer, social services director for the Salvation Army, which operates a homeless shelter, said officials from the other counties usually don't even call ahead to see if bed space is available.

"The attitude at times is they're going to dump this homeless person problem on somebody else," Archer said. "Some [counties] don't know what to do, and other communities, small towns, may not have the necessary resources."

Athens police say they have videotaped Barrow County law enforcement officers dropping off homeless people in Athens, though Barrow is not the only county doing it.

Murray Kogod, chief deputy for the Barrow County Sheriff's Department, said that if there's such a video, "it's based on the fact that somebody asked for a ride. It's not our practice to dump or drop off anyone anywhere."

As of January 2008, Athens-Clarke County had 462 homeless people, said Evan Mills, a community development specialist with the local government. Since the count began in 2004, the number has ranged between 450 and 500 people.

Since 2004, the number of unsheltered homeless people has risen from 45 to 150.

Homeless people may be living in abandoned houses, in tents, under bridges or on friends' couches, Mills said. Contributing to the problem is the fact that Athens has lost 88 homeless beds in the past four years, he said.

"I don't doubt chief Lumpkin's assertion, because it happens around the state," Mills said. Homeless people land in urban centers, he said, like Atlanta, Augusta and Athens.

"People come to Athens because we have a downtown, the university, hospitals and jobs," Mills said. "What attracts you and me to Athens attracts other people as well."

Local leaders say the rise in homelessness causes several problems.

One hidden cost is health care. The two major hospitals, Athens Regional Medical Center and St. Mary's Hospital, estimated $12 million was spent serving homeless adults in 2005.

The Downtown Athens Business Association, saying shoppers are accosted too often by people on the street, wants the local government to toughen its panhandling law.

"We need to revisit this ordinance and give people the tools they need to take care of this problem," said Tony Arnold, owner of Jackson Street Books. "Right now, it's far too permissive."

Unlike panhandling ordinances in Atlanta and Augusta, the Athens ordinance prohibits only aggressive or persistent begging. Police have said it's difficult to enforce because it requires an officer to actually see a panhandler accost a pedestrian, block the person's way or ask for money repeatedly.

Ten years ago, Lumpkin said, people in Athens who were homeless rarely were involved in any sort of crime. In the past two years, more homeless people have been involved in serious crimes, both as victims and as perpetrators. These crimes include alcohol-related aggravated assault, burglary, arson and entering auto.

Statistics compiled by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department show that in 2006, there were 397 incidents in which the suspects identified themselves as homeless, said criminal analyst David Griffeth.

Lumpkin said the economy may be part of the problem.

"The homeless segment in Athens commits a disproportionate amount of crime when compared to the rest of the population," the police chief said. "Property crimes tend to track the economy and go up when the economy goes down."