The panhandling problem — is it getting better or worse in Dallas? That was the question police chief David Kunkle tried to answer in Sunday’s DMN. His comments are interesting, particularly as they relate to downtown: The panhandling problem downtown is nowhere near as bad as the problem is in Chicago or San Francisco or Boston, but there are so few regular people in downtown Dallas that the problem "appears" worse. How’s that for an interesting theory? He also points out what many of us already know: Panhandling of the passive nature isn’t illegal in most cases and in most places, unless it’s of the "persistent or threatening type". As for the rest of the city, I can only speak to what I’ve seen lately, which is fewer panhandlers and fairly non-aggressive approaches. In fact, I can’t even remember the last time anyone has approached me saying that their spouse and baby is in the car (conveniently located around the corner and out of site), and they just need $5 or $10 for gas to get to (fill in the blank; somewhere like Longview, Arlington, etc.)
