KOIN 6
Beaverton Oregon has discovered a way to get a handle on its panhandling problem.... get them for littering.
"Needles, bottles, and leftover food -- hidden trash heaps are a growing problem in Beaverton, in areas where homeless people can handle. Were not picking on them. We're not trying to be mean. That we expect them to obey the laws," said Officer Mark Barrowcliff.
"The word is out they will get you," Bill Corcoran said.Corcoran has been homeless for two years. He's been cited and says he's learned his lesson.
"It just doesn't look good for us if we're standing in a spot all day and litter is accumulating," Corcoran said.
The problem with litter enforcement is that it takes up a lot of police time. Officers actually have to witness the person leaving the trash.
Somehow, I'm just not very surprised that it actually took the litter police to decide to start cracking down on panhandlers.
On the other side of the coin, how are they going to pay their fines and do they actually expect them to show up for court?
I guess it is like trying to find how many licks does it take to get the center of a Tootsie Pop Pop... the world may never know.
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