JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Panhandling has been outlawed in Jacksonville for about a year now, but calls to police about the problem show it’s still on the rise.
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Sandra Shin, a Jacksonville resident, sees the panhandling problem firsthand downtown where she works at a hotel. “Our guests are being harassed. Workers are being harassed. Even in our garage. So yeah the City needs to address it.”
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Jacksonville City Council made an attempt to address it by passing an ordinance making it illegal to ask for money on the side of the street. Officers’ hands were previously tied with concerns about the First Amendment.
Since the ordinance was passed, there have been about 2,874 calls to police bout panhandling. Police made what appears to be more than 702 verbal warnings, gave 24 citations, and made at least 78 misdemeanor arrests and ten felony arrests connected to a panhandling violation.
Some argued more could be done. “It’s gotten worse,” Sherrieace Kearney argued. “I have my baby in the car with me, they come up to the window.”
RELATED: Panhandling bill that Jacksonville City Council passed in February now to be enforced
The calls for service Action News Jax requested from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office also show hundreds of calls. The highest to a named location were at Walmart which had more than double the next highest amount, which was Publix.
According to the new law, panhandlers get two verbal warnings before they’re given a $100 citation and then an arrest.
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