Police dressed like tourists arrest 40 panhandlers

Atlanta police officers are dressing up just like sightseers who come to Atlanta to wander through Centennial Olympic Park or locals who work in Midtown highrises.

All in the name of catching people who beg for money and won’t take no for an answer.

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• Atlanta and Fulton County news

Since Aug. 2, Atlanta police officers have gone undercover and arrested 44 panhandlers and warned 51 others about the law when it comes aggressive panhandling in the city.

It’s part of a 30-day crackdown, focusing on the Peachtree Corridor between downtown and Midtown, in which officers used hidden cameras to catch panhandlers.

Homeless people and down-on-their-luck sorts are allowed to ask people for money, but they can only do it once and they can’t get aggressive, said Maj. Khirus Williams, commander of the police zone that includes downtown and Midtown.

Since 2005, verbal begging has been illegal in downtown’s so-called “tourist triangle” — it extends from Martin Luther King Jr. Drive north to Ralph McGill Boulevard and from Marietta Street east to Piedmont Avenue — but it has remained a persistent issue there.

Williams said he decided to put together a panhandling crackdown because complaints have been pouring in to his office daily He said he’s received letters from visitors who said the begging was so bad that they were never going to come back to Atlanta.

“It was staggering and I felt that we were obligated to formulate a plan and implement it,” Williams said.

But Williams decided to put a new twist on an old operation.

In the past, when Atlanta police have arrested panhandlers, the victims in many of the cases have been tourists who didn’t return to testify in court, Williams said. By having officers pose as tourists or office workers, they will be the ones who show up in court, hopefully resulting in more convictions, Williams said.

And, to make their cases even stronger, the officers were equipped with hidden cameras to catch the begging on tape, Williams said.

Once they went undercover, it was a target-rich environment.

“They were accosted as soon as they went out there in the field,” he said.

Police have not gone a day without making an arrest; on Friday, they had four halfway through the afternoon, Williams said.

Comments

By Rick Day

Aug 28, 2008 1:06 AM | Link to this

You think its bad now? Wait until Gustav sweeps more street thugs up from NOLA. It was bad before, and got worse after Katrina.

Between the desperation, aggression and the new firearm laws, It is only going to be a matter of time before someone has to make the ultimate decisions protect themselves or their loved ones.

By Beck

Aug 27, 2008 9:49 AM | Link to this

Apparently along with a lack of employment for many Atlanta residents we have another problem on our hands which is lack of a solid grasp of the English language and proper grammar. YOUR or YOURS means it belongs to you. YOU'RE means "YOU ARE" (as in "you're dumb, you're wrong, you're mean, you're homeless). You are also allowed to add an "S" to a word without an apostrophe if it means more than one (like when saying "all the hispanics in Atlanta" you can have 1 hispanic or a few hispanics - even though I think the PC term is Latinos but anyway - you don't have a few hispanic's, sorry).

As for the stated topic I'll make these comments . . . I live in Midtown and experience panhandling quite frequently in several forms. The 'easy ask' (as I call it) where you are approached while walking or sitting at a stoplight for a handout, and the more sophisticated approach where you get a story about a broken car, bike, etc . . . that ends with a request for a much larger sum. I never hand out money, (usually I don't have any cash anyway since I'm trying to stay in my home and not join the others on the street), but I keep United Way cards in my car that you can hand out telling people if they TRULY need help they'll dial 211 for free from a payphone and get help. I get mixed reviews but I feel it is a neutral way to respond. Those looking for quick cash to buy drugs know they'll never get any and those that really need help may benefit. Just an idea . . .

By he is in the tree

Aug 25, 2008 3:12 PM | Link to this

If your dumb enough to give them money (kids or the homeless ) then your a dumb --- . I have problems like this where I live in Cabbagetown kids knocking on my door asking for money . But when I call the po po they never come to check them out . I know one of the kids and his moma is a crack head . I dont feel sorry for them they put them self in that spot and why do I have to give them my money to keep them there . The last homeless man who is a crack head asked me for money and I told him to get a job and that got the bum mad and I was about to hit the guy after he went walking towards me yelling . I say kill them and clean up ATLANTA

By js

Aug 25, 2008 8:12 AM | Link to this

In the last few days, I have seen a woman pooping on the sidewalk, a man half naked violently screaming at people walking down Spring St., a man urinating on a light pole, and have been panhandled 3 times. This is not an issue of protecting war vets. Regardless of why these people are there. Their behavior is offensive and a very poor representation of the city. If we don't do something about helping these people into programs and stop the harassment of the people that keep the city alive, then we're in big trouble.

By Andy

Aug 23, 2008 4:03 PM | Link to this

Wow. The comment section of the story is shocking to me. You would think after reading most of these post that this story isn't even about people....rather some non human institution that needs changing.

"kill them" really?!! Multiple times I might add. Wow....I'm totally embarrassed to be from Atlanta today. The AJC really let comments like this be posted! Utter Disgrace.

What gets me is visioning a lot of these posters getting up and following their southern tradition of going to church tomorrow. Most of which are very conservative and adamant about their literal interrelations of the bible. Perhaps you should read your own book hey.

By Big Papi

Aug 23, 2008 3:16 PM | Link to this

They should tear out the planters in Barbara Asher Square on Broad St and Steve Polk Plaza outside Underground. these are two prime spots for beggers, bums and other assorted criminals. WE NEED ZERO TOLERANCE downtown for quality of life offense !!!!!!

By Next

Aug 22, 2008 10:25 PM | Link to this

I think that they should devote at least as much attention to the disturbing trend I've witnessed in the last several years of groups of kids, usually boys, out ostensibly collecting money for basketball uniforms, a trip to a football tournament, or something like that. They're usually clutching some crumpled piece of paper that you're supposed to write your name on and the amount of your donation. Invariably, if you examine these pieces of paper, the others who have signed have given highly improbably amounts.

If the money is for what they say it's for, the police need to find the adults who sent them out there and...I don't even know what an appropriate punishment would be. Why would you send children out to ask strangers for money where they can be hit by cars, abducted or robbed of whatever money they've collected? I can easily imagine someone saying "Yeah, I've got some money, but it's in my car. Come over here with me..." and the child never being seen again until someone finds his body in a field.

Alas, I fear that often there's no football team, no tournament, no uniforms being purchased. It's pathetic that kids are learning shameless scamming so young.

By Mercy

Aug 22, 2008 9:52 PM | Link to this

Bart,

How is it that a man your size (or the size you profess to be) could be so frightened of a person asking for money that he feels compelled to threaten that person with a gun?

You really should see someone about that.

By Lois

Aug 22, 2008 8:03 PM | Link to this

My son, was in Grady Hospital for 17 weeks , I never left the hospital except to go downstairs and smoke and maybe go to McDonalds to grab a bite to eat. You need to go down there undercover and see how many times you get approached.There are about 7 in a group that comes there everyday and do it everyday, One guy hit my brother-in-law up with his sob story of getting robbed of his belongings and $$ and promised to pay him back if he could loan him another $30.00 for a bus ticket to get to Augusta,Ga and would send the $ back well he is still waiting, go figure.No respect for the ill or the families that have to be there, I also was cursed @ several times because I told them to get the f'n away ,get a life and or better a JOB!!! Police wonder why hispanic's don't report crimes it's because they feel sorry for people down on there luck and then get bent over in the end.I have lived in Ga. for 30 years now and that was I hope my last experience with the crew from Grady!!!

By vida

Aug 22, 2008 7:27 PM | Link to this

I don't give ever. I gather they make upwards of 100+ dollars a day at the least, imagine how many cars are passing them in one hour!

I know plenty of places who need some manual labor help, they don't want jobs. I'm not going to give them the money I earned at MINE.

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