Some on Dover City Council would like our homeless problem to just go somewhere else.
The sight of people asking for assistance at intersections has council members’ constituents clamoring for action. A responsible solution would be to create more affordable housing in Dover. Another responsible solution would be to offer mental health counseling and substance abuse treatment.
The proposed solution, however, is to pretend that the city is taking effective action. The thinking seems to be, “If we can make those people miserable enough, it will force them to go elsewhere. And then, we can just forget about the problem of poverty in our community.” Our city leaders have, once again, proposed to task our police officers with chasing a problem away.
But there’s a catch. Because panhandling is constitutionally protected free speech, it can’t be directly criminalized. So, the city proposes language to criminalize the act of standing on a median, something only homeless individuals tend to do. (This type of tactic was historically used in many Jim Crow laws, to target Black people without directly naming them.)
A call for “pedestrian safety” is a smokescreen. These city leaders are not pressing for more pedestrian crosswalks and signals, which are sorely needed. They are not advocating for traffic-calming measures or pedestrian bridges and tunnels across busy roads. Most pedestrian injuries happen when people attempt to cross a road that has long distances between intersections with crosswalks. Have there been any injuries involving panhandlers on the medians? These city leaders aren’t really interested in reducing pedestrian injuries, but they do need a cover for their real target. It’s cruel, unjust and ineffective as a permanent solution.
The city also proposes to criminalize the act of a driver offering assistance to a person (asking for money) on the median. No good Samaritans are wanted in our community. And how will a police officer feel about ticketing a motorist who generously offers a handout to a person in need? Embarrassed? Ashamed? It’s not something you want to brag to your kids about.
This is a serious misuse of police authority and taxpayer money. It doesn’t address the root causes of poverty and homelessness. Please join our effort to stop this mean-spirited ordinance. Contact your City Council member today.
Chris Asay
Dover
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
