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Urge Salt Lake City Not to Criminalize Panhandling
  1. Signatures
    144 out of 200
    Petitioning
    1. Mayor Ralph Becker
  2. Created By
    Josie Raymond
    Brooklyn, NY
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker is planning an ordinance to outlaw "aggressive begging." It's the latest in a series of regulations around the country, from Los Angeles to Ft. Lauderdale, that outlaw various aspects of homelessness and make criminals out of people with no place to go.

An initial draft of the ordinance forbids panhandling on public transportation or within 20 feet of an ATM, church or sidewalk cafe. It also says that panhandlers can't block someone's way or threaten them. The regulation would be enforced by police officers with varying degrees of compassion, many of them the same ones who hand out loitering tickets to panhandlers now.

Tell Mayor Becker that panhandling is not a dangerous epidemic -- it's a symptom of homelessness. These people don't need tickets and jail time; they need jobs and housing.

Recent Signatures

Don't Criminalize Panhandling, a Symptom of Homelessness

Greetings,

I was disheartened to learn that you are planning to institute an ordinance to outlaw "aggressive begging."

While I commend the tenet that says that no one can impersonate a homeless veteran, the regulations about staying 20 feet away from churches and cafes is cruel. It hides the people among us who need the most attention. If a homeless person actually does assault or threaten someone, arrest him on those charges instead of penalizing an entire needy population.

Please reconsider criminalizing panhandling, a symptom of homelessness. These people don't need tickets and jail time; they need jobs and housing.

[Your name]

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