Lakewood 'Say No To Panhandling' Signs Are In Place

LAKEWOOD, WA - Lakewood's new effort to reduce panhandling went into effect this week: 17 signs at busy intersections that ask locals not to give money to panhandlers, but to charities instead.

The "keep the change" signs are meant to reduce hazards associated with panhandling, Lakewood spokeswoman Brynn Grimley said, and are a response to the city's Community Safety Resource Team seeing an uptick in panhandling complaints.

"Often times an increase in trash, food products and even hypodermic needles are found at locations where panhandlers frequent. Left behind food products can lure domestic and wild animals searching for food; the increased trash at the city’s major intersections is unattractive," city officials wrote in a blog post about the new signs.

City officials also believe locals should be skeptical of panhandlers. That same blog post ponders whether all that spare change will be used to "purchase something legitimate like food or medicine."

"There is also no way to know if the person you encounter really is homeless, has a sick child or family they need to care for, or is a veteran like they claim," the post reads.

That's why the signs encourage people to donate to charity. Lakewood gives 1 percent of the annual budget, about $720,000, to human services organizations (an effort started by former Lakewood mayor Claudia Thomas).

Tacoma News Tribune columnist Matt Driscoll interviewed Real Change founding director Tim Harris about the signs - Harris said many cities have used them, to no real effect.

Lakewood has in the past struggled with panhandling enforcement. In 2015, a man named Robert Willis was cited under an anti-panhandling ordinance by a Lakewood police officer for walking in the street near an I-5 on-ramp. Willis got a 90-day suspended jail sentence and a $250 fine. He appealed his sentence, saying the city violated his first and fourteenth amendment rights. The state Supreme Court heard the case and in 2016 upheld Willis' claims.

Lakewood largely stopped handing out tickets under the ordinance after the lawsuit, later amended it using recommendations from the state Supreme Court. Last year, city officials worked with the American Civil Liberties Union to amend city code so police can "cite someone if they step into the lane of traffic, obstructing the flow of traffic," Grimley said.

The "keep the change" signs are not a response to the decision in the Willis case, she said.

Lakewood "worked with the ACLU to craft its pedestrian obstruction section of city code, which identifies the city’s primary concern, which is public safety and pedestrian interference in the roadway," Grimley said.

WSDOT is helping Lakewood with the signs. The state installed 10 signs at various I-5 ramps, including Berkeley Avenue, Thorne Lane, Gravelly Lake Drive, Bridgeport Way, and SR 512. WSDOT spent about $400 in labor putting up the signs, spokeswoman Claudia Baker told Patch. The signs were affixed to existing signposts.

WSDOT will put up two similar "keep the change" signs for Pierce County at SR 512 and Steele Street and 512 and SR 7, Baker said.

The signs placed around Lakewood can be found at the following intersections:

• South Tacoma Way and 84th Street South
• South Tacoma Way and 112th Street South
• Bridgeport Way near the Walmart entrance
• Bridgeport Way and Pacific Hwy South
• 100th Street and Lakewood Drive
• Lakewood Drive and 74th Street
• Berkeley Street and Union Avenue
• SR 512 and South Tacoma Way (2 signs at this location)

You can find a list of local charities that help the homeless here.

Image courtesy city of Lakewood