Summer Heat Brings More Downtown Disturbances
By: Import User
Updated: January 7, 2009
People hanging out on the sidewalks, public intoxication, vandalism and trespassing...these are some of the things that spark concern for downtown business owners.
"In the summer there is a large number of increase in the loitering and solicitation because of the weather obviously. The only bad thing is the bothering of the customers and people trying to enjoy shopping and eating and things like that and them coming up and asking for money," says Mirrors Co-Owner Tracy Allen.
The St. Joseph Police Department says summer time is a busy time for police when it comes to answering phone calls for downtown disturbances dealing with what they call "the homeless".
"For a long time we`ve had a portion of the downtown population that have been homeless or are our regulars. And for a long time those people have caused distubances and fights amonst themselves. We`ve been dealing with this for as long as I`ve been here," says Sgt. Ron Gordon with the St. Joseph Police Department.
The Open Door Food kitchen is also seeing an influx of homeless in need of help. During the summer service numbers increase...the food kitchen has served as many as 173-during the lunch hour. That time of day is also busy for officers.
"Certain times of the day we may se anywhere from five or six to a dozen and other times you`ll see two or three," says downtown business owner, Terri Rader.
Police say the increased traffic...isn`t due to an increase in the homeless population, they say it could have more to do with more social services moving downtown. And while those agencies are bringing homeless people in...downtown business owners fear it`s going to drive customers out.
"They`re trying to beautify downtown and they`ve got the new project coming and doing the streets and things like that..so it`s kind of a double edge sword," says Allen.
St. Joseph police say soliciting, loitering, pan-handling, and vandalizm are all classified as misemeanors. Guilty parties can face anywhere up to a year in jail and a thousand dollar fine.
