Complaints of downtown panhandling appear to have dropped off over the past year as police and city officials worked to make the core area as inviting as possible.
Speaking at last week’s city council meeting, Coun. Colleen McKee said there was a time when concerns over the practice were more prevalent.
“It seems to have dissipated,” said McKee. “There doesn’t seem to be a lot of [complaints].”
Benches removed
Mark Kolt, the city’s chief administrative officer, said there were indeed more complaints perhaps two years ago, but going into the summer of 2014, a few of the public benches on Main Street were removed, some for repair work.
“I guess we sort of ruled it as a trial period, and I think that maybe had a bit of an impact in terms of things over the summer,” said Kolt. “Some of the hot spots weren’t as hot, didn’t generate the same sorts of complaints or the numbers of complaints that we saw the previous year. And that sort of falls in with some of the information that we’ve been getting from various groups about crime prevention through environmental design, that there’s certain ways of influencing behaviour in subtle ways.”
While it’s not common in his view, Mayor Cal Huntley said some panhandling continues to occur.
“I think that there’s a little bit of solicitation, not necessarily on money but, ‘Do you have a cigarette? Do you have this? Do you have that?’” said Huntley. “That does happen on occasion.”
Flin Flon RCMP have implemented a strategy specifically around ensuring lewd or harassing conduct is minimized in the downtown area.
When panhandling concerns were at their height in 2012 and 2013, the previous city council faced calls to enact a bylaw prohibiting the practice.
There is still no such bylaw, but Coun. Leslie Beck, a retired RCMP officer, said there are other ways police can deal with panhandlers.
“I think they basically handle it as a harassment,” Beck said. “When people feel harassed, they can call the RCMP and then the RCMP look at it [on] a case-by-case situation.”
Regulate
It’s true that while federal law forbids physical and verbal threats that can accompany panhandling, the actual act of begging for money is left to municipalities to regulate.
Some municipalities have chosen to outlaw the practice. Others have not, typically because it has not been a significant concern in their communities.
Concerns over aggressive panhandling have surfaced at various times in Flin Flon. In 2009, for instance, the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce voted to write to the RCMP about the problem.
