City of St. Augustine leaders say crime associated with panhandling is threatening the city’s quaint environment.
They say panhandling is correlated with having open containers, defecating in public and violating no-camping ordinances.
Because federal courts ruled panhandling is constitutionally protected under the First Amendment, the city wants to protect officers who arrest panhandlers for other offenses.
SAPD says crimes associated with panhandling are possession of an open container, defecating/urinating in public and aggressive panhandling. @ActionNewsJax @WOKVNews pic.twitter.com/IphStxLdZT
— Varisa Lall Dass (@vldass) January 10, 2018
Officers will have access to insurance coverage by the city for more than $1 million for individual claims brought against them.
“Oh, it feels absolutely great. Any kind of support. Any kind of support from anybody for law enforcement is always a great thing,” said Cecilia Aiple, public information officer for the St. Augustine Police Department.
The city said officers have always had access to this protection, but the extra scrutiny around the city’s panhandling problem made them formally address it.
The City of St. Augustine tells me citizens can fill out this complaint form if they think panhandlers are engaging in illegal activity. They say the link to the website is file:///C:/Users/vlalldass/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/1H035098/form.pdf pic.twitter.com/CgIWXyFbNU
— Varisa Lall Dass (@vldass) January 10, 2018
Federal Courts have held panhandling is a constitutionally protected First Amendment activity. The City says they want to find a constitutional way to curtail the behaviors associated with it. @ActionNewsJax @WOKVNews pic.twitter.com/bI9Qn94ica
— Varisa Lall Dass (@vldass) January 11, 2018
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