(Radio Iowa/kjan) – As we reported last week on KJAN, the City Council in Atlantic gave its initial approval to an ordinance to make aggressive panhandling illegal within city limits. It’s modeled after a new ordinance in Manchester, where city officials have moved to prohibit what they define as aggressive panhandling at gas stations as well as on sidewalks, streets, parking lots and other places open to the general public. Police in Sioux City say they are fielding more complaints about aggressive panhandling at busy intersections. Sioux City Police Sergeant Jeremy McClure says the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled panhandling is protected speech under the First Amendment.

In 2020, Sioux City officials passed an ordinance that bars anyone from standing or sitting in the middle of a street unless they’re on a median that’s at least six feet wide. That’s been the rule in Iowa’s largest city since April of 2019. Des Moines Police Sergeant Paul Parizek says the focus is on safety.

Parizek says complaints about panhandlers in Des Moines are fairly steady and, during the summer months, many of the 9-1-1 calls about Des Moines street beggars are about a pet or a child who is with the panhandler.

Same goes for pets if the panhandler is providing food and water and the pet appears healthy. Sergeant McClure of the Sioux City Police Department says anyone who feels threatened or harassed by an aggressive panhandler should call 9-1-1.

In April, the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa sent letters to four eastern Iowa cities, urging repeal of ordinances that generally prohibited aggressive solicitations in public areas. Dubuque’s city council repealed its ordinance this spring. Similar ordinances in Bettendorf, Davenport and Coralville were repealed in July. All were replaced with rules focused on the pedestrian safety.