CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — You see them all around town, people asking for money often on street corners.
Panhandling itself is a crime in downtown, uptown, and North Beach ... and other ordinances are in place to combat it elsewhere.
Take the aggressive panhandling ordinance.
If someone asking for money touches you or makes you afraid, they've broken the law.
But get this.
A KRIS 6 Texas Open Records Request showed that there have been zero arrests or even tickets written for aggressive panhandling.
Instead, officers simply let the panhandler know he or she is violating the ordinance and leads them away.
Corpus Christi police say there's something you can do to combat panhandling, too.
"Don't give to folks who are out there panhandling,” Corpus Christi Assistant Police Chief Mark Schauer said. "If you want to do something good, give to a non-profit who deals in that. They tug at your heartstrings, but so do the people who are scamming you."
Another open records request revealed that officers have written tickets for another panhandling ordinance.
In order to ask for money along a road, panhandlers must wear a reflective safety vest.
In the six years the ordinance has been on the books, officers have written 20 tickets for it.
Coming up tonight on KRIS 6 News at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., we’ll look into other things police and the city are doing about panhandling.
We’ll also introduce you to a panhandler who uses humor in hopes of getting some cash from you.
