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Dallas Officers Go Undercover To Fight Panhandling

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Jan 11, 2008 9:18 pm US/Central

Dallas Officers Go Undercover To Fight Panhandling

Reporting
J.D. Miles
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ― Police officers in Dallas are going undercover to attack the problem of panhandling and clean up the streets of downtown. The operation is being called a success. CBS 11 News followed an undercover officer to see how police are making a difference.

The undercover officer does not stand out among the sea of downtown workers walking to lunch on Friday afternoon. But she is an undercover officer on a mission.

A man approaches and asks, "Will you help me get something to eat?" Moments after the question is asked, that man, identified as Dan Brooks, is going to jail.

Brooks: "I'm waiting on the bus."
CBS 11 News: "Were you panhandling?"
Brooks: "No."
CBS 11 News: "You weren't asking for money?"
Brooks: "No, sir."

Police are getting tough on street beggars like Brooks.

While some may see the panhandlers as harmless, police said that some are not. "There are some that stand passively, but there are some that become aggressive," explained Lt. Midge Boyle of the Dallas Police Department. "The officers that work downtown know these panhandlers. It can be a problem."

Police said that the money collected by panhandlers would be better spent by charities. As part of the city's "Lend a Hand" program, 40 drop boxes will soon be placed in businesses throughout downtown for people to donate money, rather than give it to a panhandler.

In the meantime, police are getting more aggressive in enforcing the city's ordinance against beggars.

But some of those arrested, like Darrell Davis, said that they need the money to survive. "I'm thirsty. I'm hungry. I'm tired," Davis said. "I was going to get something to eat and take it back to the shelter."

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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