Tampa Panhandlers

Because of recent changes in the panhandling rules in cities surrounding Tampa, Florida there has been a great increase in those panhandling on the streets of Tampa. Tampa recently continued the policy allowing panhandlers on the streets if they wore a bright colored vest, were not in the street while the traffic was moving and off the street before dark.

The city basically has allowed this citing that the job market is so bad that this is just one method of allowing some people to make some money. It does point out that there is a problem, but this does not really solve the problem. It is interesting that there are signs on the road if workers are present that indicate that speeding fines are doubled when workers are present. If it is dangerous for workers to be working on the roads it should be just as dangerous for panhandlers to be on the road. It is obvious that we think that the panhandlers are in some danger if it is required to have them wear bright vests just like the road-workers. Logically then we should have signs posted on the roads that indicate that speeding fines are doubled when panhandlers are present.

The panhandlers deserve the same level of protection as the road workers. If such signs were posted and enforced it is likely that we would see a change in the panhandling laws.

There are many factors that are not clear in this whole process. We need real data about how many panhandlers are actually on the streets, how much they make on average, and how they use that money. If for example, all of the money is being used to rent a hotel room, then this is not really sufficient help. If it is used to purchase drugs, then we are supporting criminal activity. While it may be clear that many people need a lot of help in these difficult times, it is not likely that allowing panhandling is an effective solution.

If data was collected about the entire process we could gain a better understanding about the deapth of the problem and this could lead us toward significantly better solutions. The problem is not going away without a realistic effort by everyone.