Aggressive panhandling, we’re being told, is once again on the rise in downtown Kamloops.
According to a report to the City’s community safety committee, complaints have increased quite dramatically in the first quarter of the year compared to the previous year.
It’s easy to get all lathered up about panhandling, and we shouldn’t be surprised if somebody on City council proposes greater restrictions on it in the vicinity of ATMs, intersections and so on, and maybe even broaches the idea of limiting panhandling hours.
But in my view it’s not anything to get excited about. The incidence of panhandling on Victoria Street right now is as low as I’ve ever seen it.
There are a few regulars and ad hoc buskers but they’re very little bother, and people have a right to ask other people for money. It’s not as if panhandling is a natural choice for a career — you don’t get into it because it’s rewarding or lucrative.
We certainly need to put controls on it, but my point is those controls are working. Write a headline that says there’s been a 400-per-cent increase in panhandling complaints and it sounds dramatic, but the fact is that for the first three months of this year there’s been about one complaint every couple of days.
And I’m willing to bet that those complaints don’t mean that panhandling, especially aggressive panhandling, is on some sort of sensational increase.
I suggest it’s simply because more people have been complaining about it when they see it.
By and large, panhandling isn’t currently a big deal in downtown Kamloops or other parts of the city. The ones who cause the problem, who truly detract from the shopping experience, are the screamers and shouters, the loiterers and cursers who loudly report their unhappiness using profanity and obscenity-laced declarations for all to hear.
Those are the ones the businesses, the public and the politicians should pay more attention to.
I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.
