panhandling

Do you get an uneasy feeling when you pull up to a stop light and see a person on the curb or island with a sign asking for money? What do you do? Look away? Pretend you don’t see the person? Or do you offer money?

While the advice of the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department may be against your kind-hearted nature, the best thing is to not give money. In fact, you should call the Sheriff’s Dept. at 874-5115 (the non-emergency line) and report the person – for several reasons.

First, panhandling in that manner is against the law. Second, panhandling from an island especially is dangerous to the person and to those in passing cars. And third, nearly every time, money will not help them, but rather enable them to continue their deteriorating life style. Furthermore, some of these panhandlers are, in effect, “professionals” making several hundred dollars a day. And the more they make at a given corner, the more they will be there, knowing it is a lucrative location, no matter how dangerous it may be. Fortunately, in Rosemont we do not see much of this problem, but it is nearby and does affect us.

There are numerous resources available to these panhandlers where they can get any needed help, from food to medical attention to housing and many other resources. Click on www.homelessresourcesca.org/cities/sacramento. So next time you see someone panhandling on the corner, think twice before you hand him or her money; sadly, you may be doing more harm than good.