Like a lot of other cities, Denver is strying to crack down on panhandling, largely because they have such a huge number of panhandlers. A substantial 61% of Denver merchants rated panhandling as the number one problem their business faced, and 72% of citizens agreed that it was one of the most serious problems in the city. As a result, the city is considering enacting harsh restrictions on vagrancy and camping, and is building over 3,000 new low income housing units for the homeless.
Of course, the main reason that there are so many panhandlers in Denver is that it's so lucrative. According to a recent survey conducted by the Downtown Denver Partnership, 42% of the population has given money to panhandlers in the past year and the average person there gives $1.84 each time he or she is approached by a panhandler, for a total of about $25 a year. This adds up to an awful lot of money - a total of over $4.6 million, divided among about a thousand panhandlers. That's an average of about $50,000 per active panhandler per year, with confidential interviews with panhandlers indicating that they make between $35,000 and $100,000 tax free per year and view panhandling as the equivalent of a job or a profession. Some even have homes and support families on their panhandling income.
One of the ironic aspects of this is that the survey shows that the most generous group to donate to the panhandlers are those who earn less than $25,000 per year, about half of what the average panhandler makes. This puts us in the strange position of having to look at street beggars as heartless exploiters of the working class, leeching off of the paltry income of hard working secretaries and bus boys.
At a cost of $174 per arrest the city has determined that it's not worth arresting panhandlers, because there are so many and if they arrested them all as often as they'd need to in order to discourage them, the cost would be so high it could never be justified. They wisely thought it made more sense to spend the money on building housing for the homeless. That's great, but it doesn't really address the panhandling issue, because professional panhandlers and those who are homeless and need inexpensive housing and a hand-up are not the same people at all. Nothing they do to reduce homelessness is going to help with the panhandling problem, because panhandlers make enough money that they don't need to be homeless unless it's a matter of lifestyle choice - which it actually is for a lot of them.
Article comments
1 - Victor Plenty
I posted a comment here but it's gone now. Odd.
2 - Mark Sahm
50 G's?!? Damn.
Dave, you've convinced me. I'm quitting this cubicle job and taking my coffee cup and a cardboard sign downstairs to 5th Avenue.
3 - Dave Nalle
There was an error with the original post and I had to repost it and the comments - fine though they were - were lost.
Dave
4 - Nancy
This is a very old problem. It even comes up in a Sherlock Holmes story. Still and all, I would rather give a few bucks to someone and risk getting 'ripped off', than drive by & someone who DOES need it goes hungry.
5 - ss
"42% of the population has given money to panhandlers in the past year and the average person there gives $1.84 each time he or she is approached by a panhandler"
Really?
6 - DrPat
I went to school for a year (until he transferred) with a guy who panhandled in Denver to pay his tuition, room & board.
He "worked" part-time, spending his weekends on the street in Denver, coming back to Golden (by cab!) Sunday night with enough time to do his homework for Monday morning. Summers, he "worked" the streets full-time, and saved up.
I've never been comfortable with giving money to panhandlers since.
And it's not hard to discover which are the scam-handlers. Just park near an active corner around 8:30 AM (earlier during the warm days of summer) and wait for them to arrive. In my town, an upscale, late-model van drops off half a dozen, one at a time, at prime locations near freeway off-ramps and grocery stores. The driver then parks and sets up his own begging station.
Around 10, they all gather in the local Dennys for a "power breakfast."
7 - Nancy
That's pretty appalling. How did he justify it? No shame about it, I suppose; did his family know? His friends (assuming anyone would remain his friends if they found out - I wouldn't)?
8 - Dave Nalle
>>"42% of the population has given money to panhandlers in the past year and the average person there gives $1.84 each time he or she is approached by a panhandler"
Really?<<
No, the Downtown Denver Partnership (a Chamber of Commerce organization) is in the habit of falsifying statistics. WTF is with this question, SS?
Dave
9 - Dave Nalle
DrPat, when I lived in DC there was a very interesting story in the Washington Post where they interviewed a panhandler who owned a home in upscale suburban bethesda, took a bus in to work at Dupont Circle every day, had special begging clothes and a whole schtick he practiced to make money. He was pulling down $60K a year in th 1980s.
This seems to be a common pattern, where the professional panhandlers consider what they do their job and refer to it as 'going to work'. They're also very aggressive about their territory and drive away regular homeless folks. It's all rather reminiscent of the beggars leagues of 18th century London, where they were basically organized into union like groups and licensed the good begging spots from the local street boss.
Dave
10 - Tim Spruill
4,600,000 divided by one thousand (panhandlers) equals $4,600 not $46,000. Quite a difference when you do the math accurately
11 - The Baglady
I second the math error in this article. 4.6 million/1000 = $4600. That's not really a lot for a person to live on for a year. Dave, please correct your error because people are quoting this article. For example.
12 - Jeff Greene
With an adjustment for inflation as well as the burgeoning rise of prices during this horrendous recession, Panhandling might just become another viable income stream for those who might actually see it as the business that it really is! LOL!
13 - Alex
Sorry buddy but your wrong... panhandling is not a lucratrive profession contradictory to what you might try to convince yourself when your talking yourself out of giving a quarter to a down and out homeless guy on the street. You know why the lowest income bracket gives the most money to panhandlers??? Because they understand there situation. I only wish people like you could live a day in there shoes.
14 - Detour
I pandhandled in WV. for a couple months after I broke my arm and leg in an accident and COULD NOT WORK. i only did it often enough to make sure I didnt end up homeless and starving...just because some or most are dishonest, doesnt mean that truely needy people should suffer as a result. I can't thank people enough for keeping a roof over my head, food in my belly, and my lungs full of cigarette smoke those couple months... I've since gone back to work. PEACE AND LOVE
15 - Detour
Also me... swallowing my pride was pretty hard work.