by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
New signage has been installed at Hemming Plaza to educate people about the City’s laws against panhandling.
“People need to know not to give money to panhandlers,” said Officer Wally Butler of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Downtown business district walking beat.
“There are services in place to help people become self-sufficient. When you give money to a panhandler, chances are it goes to support their substance abuse habit. The cruelest thing you can do is give people money because that just locks them into a cycle of dependency,” he said.
Butler said JSO is aggressively enforcing the law and is currently conducting operations in which undercover officers are arresting people who are soliciting in the plaza and other public and other semipublic areas.
“Enforcement is just as good for the panhandler as it is for the person being panhandled,” said Butler.
Anyone who is solicited by a panhandler on the street should call the JSO non-emergency phone number, 630-0500.
“If you’ll report it and give us a description of the person, we can take care of it,” said Butler.
356-2466