City-Powered Panhandling

As tourist season ramps up in the City Different, police are clarifying laws about panhandling, talking about how it can (and can't) be dealt with, and pointing to city programs as alternative options to incarceration. The topic created buzz at a meeting Tuesday evening between the Downtown Merchants Association and the Santa Fe Police Department at First National Bank on the Plaza.

Merchants say they are concerned about Plaza safety, as violent crimes seem to be increasing in frequency in the area. Eleven muggings occurred downtown last year, a rise from the previous year, according to Police Chief Patrick Gallagher.

"We do get emails from tourists who feel unsafe. All it takes is one bad experience, and we've got a tourist who is never coming back here," the former Brooklyn cop, who has policed areas like Time Square and Coney Island, told the group.

Audience members cited some recent incidents that have fueled their fears. One woman who has worked on the Plaza for over 19 years says she was punched in the face by an intoxicated man at 2 in the afternoon just the other day. "What am I allowed to do?" she asks. "That's what I want to know. I am tired of being afraid. I'm tired of waiting for my co-worker for 30 minutes so we can walk to the parking garage together. This is Santa Fe."

While there's no clear evidence that panhandlers are also responsible for violence, Capt. James Lamb gave a presentation about the details of when panhandling is lawful and unlawful and the criteria that differentiates an aggressive panhandler from an non-aggressive one under the city code.

As Lamb held up the encyclopedia-sized book of New Mexico's statutes, he stressed the difference between panhandling and homelessness, saying, "Look through these books and tell me where homelessness is a crime. It's not. We [the police] look at the act, not the person. Being homeless is not a reason to call the police; it's their actions we are concerned with."

Sgt. Chris McCord, who heads the police bicycle patrol team downtown, attributes some of the transient population and panhandling presence in and around the Plaza to power outlets in the area, which are left on at all times.

The city turned off the power outlets in Cathedral Park, for example, and it made a difference in the crowd there.

"The power outlets in city parks, city facilities and so forth being left on, that creates issues in the downtown area, because then you have a group of people who know where to go for free power," says McCord.

A particularly clever group, he adds, got wise to the free outdoor power last summer and brought a television to the Railyard Park and just plugged it in.

McCord also blames the free, never-ending power access for overnight campers who use the Bandstand stage as their outdoor bed some nights, especially to escape inclement weather. And, for a city with a budget problem, leaving power on all the time is an inarguable waste.

McCord also clued the merchants in about the city's Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, also known LEAD, which keeps low-level criminal addicts out of jail and puts them on the road to recovery. He told the audience to consider LEAD for people like "shoplifters you maybe don't want to call us on." The recovery program that McCord calls "promising" currently has 60 people enrolled, with an average cost of $7,000 per participant, compared to $49,000 to incarcerate the same person for one year.

David Block, director of Youth Shelters and Family Services in Santa Fe, closed the hour-and-a-half-long meeting with a plea for compassion from shopkeepers who are quick to pounce. "Homelessness is not a choice," Block says. "Many are kicked out of their homes because of their sexual orientation, because they identify as gay. They have witnessed terrible violence and been sexually and or physically abused. They are escaping nightmares only to end up on the streets. It can be challenging, but remember that their life histories are ones of trauma and tragedy."

Santa Fe Reporter