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Police approach panhandling in new way

Abilene Police addressed panhandling by first addressing homelessness.
Abilene Police addressed panhandling.

Panhandlers along Abilene roadways are a common sighting.

Abilene Police addressed panhandling by first addressing homelessness.

A meeting was held at Abilene’s City Hall to address the problem.

Police Chief Stan Standridge said the discussion started 3 years ago after getting several calls about panhandlers.

“Complaining about aggressive panhandling, and sleeping, and urinating, and defecating in public spaces,” Standridge said.

Standridge said criminalizing these people isn’t the answer to the issue.

“Our first response doesn’t necessarily need to be criminal enforcement. Homelessness is not a crime,” Standridge said.

He organized meetings with the city staff, churches and other stakeholders.

“Ultimately we started a committee called hand up, not out. We talked about moving from charity to philanthropy,” Standridge said.

He said panhandling is also a safety issue.

“That’s dangerous for the stopped car, that’s obviously dangerous for the panhandler,” Standridge said.

To get to the root of the problem, the committee worked with Abilene Christian University grad students.

In the students study, they found at least 300 people are homeless here.

Abilene ISD reported 947 homeless children in 2015-16.

The study also found there are a “lack of resources to help.”

At the meeting, these findings will be the topic of discussion.

“It is going to dispel some myths that all of us have about homelessness,” Standridge said.

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