Registration to panhandle proposed in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids City Council member Scott Olson has been working with police and social services organizations to develop the city's first panhandling ordinance.

What is the panhandling ordinance?

The concept at this point is if you want to panhandle you will have to get registered. The idea was suggested by Mike Jennings, of the Safe Place Foundation.

You would first need to meet with a case worker and go over why you want to panhandle. They would discuss all of the services available. If they still want to panhandle, they'd take picture and create a lanyard, with the date of when they were registered, after a background check by police. The biggest concern has been safety. This would be at no cost (to the panhandler).

How will it work?

Panhandling will still be allowed except in places where people feel trapped, such as controlled intersections, by ATMs, a parking ramps or on a city bus. If there's a violation, the person could be cited. It would be a misdemeanor. We are trying to get people to use the services rather than panhandling, and it will give police the power to enforce if people are being intimidated.

Why does Cedar Rapids need a panhandling ordinance?

The number of calls and complaints on panhandling has gone up. Police keep a chart and if you look at it, it's going up (showing an increase from 109 complaints in 2012 to 162 in 2015).

Panhandling is not the way to get out of your predicament. Veterans groups and disabilities groups don't like it. There's a guy who panhandles in a wheelchair. He claims to be a disabled veteran, but then he gets up off his wheelchair.

Our panhandling has expanded dramatically. Citizens are just concerned. What kind of message does this send to people who come visit our community that we are not providing services?

But the majority of people who are panhandling are — how do I say this — professional panhandlers.

What areas get the most complaints for people asking for money?

At Seventh (Street NE) getting on the interstate, coming off Highway 100 at Center Point Road, Blairs Ferry (Road) and 380. And J Avenue and 15th Street SW is a new location.

Who will run this?

The system will be a combination of a non-profit, who will provide case worker services, and police, which will do the background checks and enforcement. Waypoint has expressed interest.

Enforcement will be with (informational) cards, not necessarily giving a ticket or arresting someone. This says, (panhandling) is not the way to do it — here's all the services we have in the community. The cards will be available through police, homeless shelters, emergency rooms and other places.

When did you start working on this?

An ordinance was passed by the public safety committee two years ago, but it never went beyond that. When we met informally with City Council, everyone liked it but the discussion morphed into 'the ordinance was too broad.' We needed to narrow the scope.

I started working on it again in the middle of last year.

What are the next steps for this ordinance to get adopted?

We plan to finalize a draft in August, and bring it forward to the public safety committee in September and to City Council in late October or early November. I plan to meet with City Council members first to make sure they are comfortable with the direction we are going.