JACKSONVILLE, Ark. — Last month, city council members in Jacksonville voted in favor of placing signs saying "don't support panhandling" around the city. This decision came about after a local business complained about constantly being targeted.
"Lots of problems [have been] going on in the last few years. I filled out more police reports than I care to in the last couple of years due to various individuals in town," said the owner of Double R Florist and Gifts.
City Council member, James Bolden explained how it's a problem that the city has been trying to fix for quite some time as they've witnessed an increase in panhandling.
"Constituents are very concerned about the panhandlers because they've seen many of the panhandlers have signs out, asking them for donations and then some of them will sit there and wait to see what happens. Next thing you know, they walk over to a nice car, nice truck driving off," Bolden said.
He explained that the goal is to have signs placed in high-traffic areas of Jacksonville.
In a statement sent to us by Mayor Jeff Elmore, he said, "These signs do not ban panhandlers, as their rights of freedom of speech and expression are protected by the first amendment of the United States constitution. However, it is meant to encourage those who wish to give, to instead donate towards a local charity."
However, city council member Rose Rains voted against this motion.
"We know these signs don't work in our sister city in Cabot. There are actually people who are more intentional in their giving in spite of those signs. Our unsheltered and at-risk community members do not deserve to fall between the cracks in our current governmental system at large," Rains described.
Bolden said there's a difference between someone who is a panhandler and someone who is in need of active help.
"The major thing we need to do is try to make sure that people are taken care of, and not have people out there trying to rip off the constituents, or damage their property and things of that nature," he explained.
"At this time, there is no set date for the signs to be installed across Jacksonville. They will be installed at various points around Jacksonville, primarily intersections and streets that experience more traffic than other areas of the city," said Mayor Elmore.