WMC-TV channel 5 ran a story this afternoon about the Memphis Police Quality of Life Task Force taking action to clean up Downtown.
One of the things we’ve learned on the Handling-Panhandling list in the past two weeks is that the river bank near the Downtown Visitor’s Center is a popular place for vagrants to camp out. As a result, the first thing that happens when tourists arrive in Memphis is that they get panhandled outside the Visitor’s Center. MPD says that the people who camp there are also known to commit crimes, breaking into cars and trading whatever they can find for drugs.
An MPD officer was interviewed, and he commented that there are places in town for the homeless to stay that are not out in the open on the river banks. Most likely he meant the Union Mission. Vagrants choose to camp out rather than stay in the Mission for a variety of reasons – they don’t want to hand over $6 of their “hard-earned” money; they don’t like having to be in the Mission by 6 PM, causing them to miss evening hours outdoors which are prime-time for panhandling; they don’t like having to sit through the Mission’s chapel service; they can’t use alcohol and drugs at the Mission.
I applaud the police on recognizing there’s a problem with panhandling Downtown and doing something about it (heck, I didn’t even know we had a Quality of Life Task Force). I question, though, whether what they did today will really help. The vagrants will return to their camp to find their toothpaste, spare clothes, bedding, and other necessities of life are not there. Are they really going to go, “Well, I guess I better go to the Mission, can’t stay here anymore”? I doubt it. Now they’re going to have to panhandle more aggressively than ever, to get new necessities to survive as well as money for alcohol and drugs. They’ll likely set up camp right back in the same spot. And if they decide the area is no longer hospitable, they’re not going to go to the Mission to get help – they’ll relocate to another area. Hey Midtown, want some more bums?
If the police really want to put a dent in panhandling and car break-ins Downtown, I have three words for them: walking police patrols. That’s what we need. The panhandlers and criminals will be a lot more skittish about doing “business” Downtown if they see a cop every time they turn around.
I thank them for what they did today, but it’s a Band-Aid and it strikes me as more of a publicity move to show that they’re doing something (maybe in response to the media coverage Handling-Panhandling has gotten in the past week) rather than working to come up with a long-term solution to the problem. Nevertheless, I hope to learn more about the Quality of Life Task Force and get them active on the Handling-Panhandling forum.
If any of the cops that participated today are reading this, I invite you to e-mail me and start a dialogue. Not trying to attack what you did today; I just think you might be able to come up with some more constructive solutions if you partner with the Downtown community.