Word Hits Street on Panhandling Ordinance

Memphis, Tn - Strange Cargo employee Chelsa Mahone noticed the lack of panhandlers, "There's usually anywhere from 5 to 12 here on any day. But today, there was just one... just one."

Walking down to Main Street, we found a man named Andrew McCollum. He said he was on his way to New York City. He then proceeded to ask, “Hey, can I borrow a couple of dollars, but I'm not going to pay it back."

McCollum says he's heard about the new purposed ordinances and says panhandling isn't hurting anyone, "I think it’s stupid, man. Aggressive panhandling is different than sitting on a corner just asking for money."

In fact, McCollum says Tuesday afternoon he got a ticket from Memphis Police for aggressively panhandling. "Some cops rolled up, 3 deep, a lot of cops and they all rolled up on me and gave me a citation threw me against a car."

Mahone thinks that word of the ordinances is already working, "It's helping it's helping that's the first step."