Newark Ticketing Homeless Panhandlers, Drivers Who Give Them Cash

NEWARK, NJ — Newark police have been ticketing hundreds of “panhandlers” – as well as the drivers who stop to give them money – at several of the city’s busiest intersections and highway off-ramps, authorities recently announced.

On May 24, officials with the Newark Public Safety Department said that over the last few weeks, police have given out more than 250 summonses for panhandling, which can carry a maximum fine of $500.

Many of those who received tickets are homeless or struggle with drug addictions, officials said.

Newark police are also enforcing the city’s “delaying traffic” ordinance, which prohibits drivers from stopping to give panhandlers cash. About 90 summonses have been issued over the past few weeks. Those tickets cost $50, plus a court fine, officials said.

“People are well-meaning and want to help, but this is a safety issue,” Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said. “We have panhandlers wading into traffic at busy exit ramps off Route 280 or on McCarter Highway, which jeopardizes their own health. We had a female pedestrian killed on McCarter Highway just a few weeks ago.”

The traffic enforcement campaign is just one facet of a two-pronged effort to solve the issue of panhandling in Newark, officials pointed out.

Newark officials are also conducting outreach efforts in those same areas in an attempt to connect people with they help they need to get back on their feet.

“When a driver stops and gives a panhandler money, they’re basically helping them feed bad habits,” Ambrose said. “We want to discourage this, but while offering these panhandlers significant and meaningful help.”

A big part of the NPD’s outreach has involved Newark Hope One, a mobile police vehicle that offers Narcan kits and training, detoxification and rehabilitation recovery support, mental health services and transportation to drug treatment facilities. The unit also provides identification cards to the homeless so that they can obtain services, including housing assistance.

So far this year, Hope One has referred about 75 people to drug rehabilitation programs and almost 50 to mental health services, officials said.

The mobile recovery unit operates in partnership with the Center for Addiction Recovery, Education and Success (C.A.R.E.S.), Integrity House and the Newark Department of Health and Community Wellness.

“I’m pleased Hope One Newark is making an impact in meeting the needs of those addicted, suffering from mental illness or living homeless,” Ambrose said. “We’re coming to them, and giving them a pathway to improve their lives.”

• See related article: Newark Gives 50 Homeless Residents Jobs ... And Hope (VIDEO)
• See related article: Shelters Rescued 20 Homeless In Newark As Temps Plummeted

PANHANDLING CRACKDOWNS IN NEWARK

It isn’t the first time Newark officials and police have launched a campaign to address panhandling in the city.

In 2016, the Newark Department of Public Safety announced that it was cracking down on "aggressive" panhandling at locations including McCarter Highway, Penn Station, the Speedway Avenue and South Orange Avenue ramps near Interstate 280, and the intersections of Central Avenue and 1st Street, Chancellor Avenue and Fayban Place, and Clinton Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

But while Newark public safety officials lauded the operation as a step in the right direction, some civil rights activists questioned both the legality and the ethical basis of panhandling crackdowns.

“Targeting panhandling is a textbook tactic of the failed 'Broken Windows' strategy of policing, which has led to significant damage between communities and police throughout the country,” ACLU-NJ Public Policy Director Ari Rosmarin told Patch when the 2016 campaign was launched.

• See related article: Newark's War Against The Poor: Cops Crack Down On Panhandlers

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