Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Here's an interesting story that came out yesterday and got
my attention. I just didn't have time to squeeze it
into the show yesterday. It's it's not like a hey
me on the lookout if you're a if you're a panhandler,
this would affect you. But what do we do with panhandlers?
All right? So what is panhandling? Well, this I think
(00:24):
by defined in including Statute sixty six one four UH,
it is illegal in that state statute to stand, sit, walk,
or solicit on controlled access highways or controlled access highway
exits or on rams. The the moin or I keep
(00:46):
saying the moin. This is the thing I said the
moin for almost my entire life. And I bring one
the moin guy onto the show and all of a
sudden pow right in my face. He's I can't stop
saying it. Douglas Douglas Douglas Douglas County Sheriff. The Sheriff's
Office released this and basically said, if there was a
(01:14):
there's going to be I think a pretty important conversation
that we just need to generally have about this stuff
because what is you know, from Aaron Hanson's perspective, he's
trying to enforce an already existing law. But when we're
talking about what the law is, are you complicit if
(01:36):
you give money to people that are soliciting? I mean,
not like in a legal way. But the reason people
would be panhandling or sitting here on the streets and
doing this sort of thing is because they're making money
doing it. I talked to one guy. He more busks,
(01:58):
but sometimes he does the panhandling. But I was talking
to him because he did an interview with someone that
I was working with at the time, and he basically said,
I make close to eighty grand a year just doing this. Huh,
you heard me? He said in this this is not
(02:18):
in a place as big as Omaha. It's a big place,
but it's not as big as Omaha. And he said,
I probably make close to eighty grand a year between
my busking on street corners, random street corners and panhandling
when I don't feel like playing my instrument. And he says,
(02:40):
that's my job. I don't do anything else. By the way,
the guy can't even play the guitar. He stands there
and he tries to sing and he just kind of
strums the guitar. He's not even really playing anything. I mean,
it's Gibberius stuff. And somehow he's the reason he got
interviews because everybody knows who he is because they see
him different places around town. And he said eighty thousand dollars.
(03:02):
He thinks, now he could be pulling my leg. But
if he says that's the only thing that he's doing,
I tend to believe him. Forty dollars an hour, essentially,
So think about what that would be. That's a lot
of variables out out of consideration, just for the sake
of it. Forty forty dollars an hour. That's a standard
work week for forty hours a week, is what you're saying.
(03:23):
So let's say for eight hours a day, you go
and you pay a handle, and you go and you
stand on a street, corner, my street, corner, an exit,
an exit ramp, on ramp, or you know, just like
hanging out on the side of the road somewhere on
I don't know, maybe coming or on Dodge or just
(03:45):
somewhere where there would be people stopping. Because that's the
only way it works, right, is you just got to
be at a place where you're stopped and for eight
hours a day. Essentially, you stand there and if ten
people give you five dollars, eight people give you five
dollars based on your math in one hour, just eight
of the hundreds of cars you're probably seeing in an hour,
(04:09):
If eight people stop and give you a five dollar bill,
you would be making if you did that every single day,
that I mean, that's all you need. That's all you'd need.
It's eight people an hour to give you five dollars
and you're making eighty grand a year. Pretty crazy stuff. Now,
(04:30):
the reason I should I should elicit you know, like
what The exact explanation here is from Aaron Hanson, the
sheriff of Douglas County, says, this is standing, sitting, walking,
and soliciting on controlled access highways or controlled access highway
exit on on ramps is not only dangerous, but it
is illegal per the state Statute sixty dash six one four.
(04:54):
It is happening too often in Douglas County, further violating
the law right in front of signs that warn again
the exact illegal behavior is bold in an obvious cry
for attention. Violators have my attention, starting immediately. Douglas County
Sheriff's Office cat and Road Patrol will be taking zero
tolerance enforcement action to curtail this risky illegal behavior before
(05:17):
somebody gets hurt or killed. Citizens with tips on locations,
days and times of known frequent violators can pass along
their tips via dcso CAT at Douglas County Dashne dot gov. Wow,
and I say wow because with immediate effect, right, And
(05:39):
this goes back to our parking on your grass conversation
that we had yesterday. Is this really what we want
the Sheriff's Department to be worrying about? It is a
safety hazard, sure, but what are you going to do
with these people if they are legitimately homeless, if they
legitimately don't have money, if they legitimately have no job
besides you know, doing this for whatever it's worth. Even
(06:02):
if they're choosing this lifestyle, where are you going to
take them? How are you going to stop them from
finding a different spot? All this stuff like, what are
the what are the punishments that you're going to give
to a person? And how many offenses will it take
for them to actually have a day in court on
something like this? Is this that serious of a thing
that we're going to put our resources to use for
(06:23):
that call us if you got some thoughts on this,
because I'm going to need your thoughts. I don't really know.
I've never really been one to give people money like this,
but I know what happens, and I know I see
the people, I see people giving them stuff. Panhandling. Sheriff
Aaron Hanson of Douglas County says, we are going to
(06:43):
start cracking down immediately on people who are panhandling. They
have their signs next to roads, next to exit ramps.
They are asking people for money. If they use or
if somebody gives us a tip or we see this,
we are going to say this is a violation of
State Statute sixty dash six, and this is you're in trouble.
(07:03):
I don't know what that enforcement looks like, and I
don't know where they're going to take these people, but
it's certainly we have a problem that's being addressed. But
I think we might need to know more solutions. And
I think a lot of people in the comments section
that is something that they're talking about here too. But
I want your thoughts on panhandling in general, but also
what we would do in this scenario with this increased
(07:26):
you know, enforcement and crackdown on violators. Mark's on the
phone line at four, two, five, five, eight, eleven ten.
Welcome into the show. Mark, what's on your mind today?
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Hey, Emory, how are we doing today? I get off
the Interstate every day at I eighty and Maple Street,
and today was the first day in a long time
that it was empty. So it's one nice to know
that the enforcement is actually happening because it was empty
(08:00):
and it hasn't been empty in years.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Secondly, when it comes to that, you know, it's a
it's a it's a thin red line when it comes
at the panhandling. I understand why these folks are doing it.
They're doing it for means to an end and this
and that. But but it's also it's ugly for the
city when when you get off the Inner State on
(08:23):
almost every exit, you know, this is what you see,
and it's it's it's discouraging, uh when you think about
where your city's going, and you know, are we doing good?
Are we not doing good? But that's that's what it is.
So one, I'm happy to see that what our leaders
(08:44):
and you know, it's actually happening. The enforcement is actually happening.
It's just not words that are being said. So that's encouraging.
But there's there's permits, there's panhandling permits, there's ways to
do this legally and properly. So it's only a twenty
five dollars fine. So it's a twenty five dollars fine
(09:07):
to somebody who's standing there. And like you said earlier,
if eight people give five bucks, I mean, you can
certainly afford a twenty five dollars fine. Let's find a
new place to do this, Let's not do it on
the interstates, and maybe hopefully they could come up with
the program just give these guys permits and educate them
on where and how is the legal way to take
(09:32):
care of this. That way you can legitimately earn your
income and try to better yourself and maybe even pay
a little taxes along the way.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Yeah, well that would be my thing. That'd be my thing.
Mark is like, well, we're even are we on just
like giving panhandler's money, Like, are we wanting to encourage
this type of behavior by just giving people on the
side of the road for no reason at all, just
giving them money?
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Technically, in my opinion, panhandling isn't Hey look at how
well I drew this sign that says anything helps. That's
not panhandling. Uh, standing there, having something to offer, whether
it be a form of entertainment or or something, you know,
that would encourage somebody to give you a few bucks.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Rightieth Yeah, yeah, you know, but just begging for money?
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Hey, you know somebody.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Just sitting there saying anything helps.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Yeah, that's not panhandling.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Interesting begging. Mark, appreciate the call today, Thanks for listening
to the show.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
God Bless America, Amory.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Yeah, it's an interesting way that he put that there,
because you know, the difference between begging and panhandling could
be drawn here. I think this goes for both, honestly,
For whatever that's worth. Freddy's on the phone line. We'll
get Freddy in here. Freddie, appreciate the call today. What's
on your mind?
Speaker 5 (10:56):
Hey, Amory?
Speaker 6 (10:58):
So I just exited Danner Stay is Six's eighty and
northbound at where you get off and go on Maple Street. Yeah,
and the same guy is still there that he's there
every day.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Okay, So they haven't got that guy yet?
Speaker 5 (11:12):
Yeah no they have not.
Speaker 6 (11:14):
No I even took his picture.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Well they have, but but Freddie, now they have a
tip line they say, if you want to get somebody removed,
just tip on the location the times that you see
that person. They have an email d S or d
C S O C A T at Douglas County dash
inne dot gov. So if you remember that, I mean,
(11:36):
if you go to their website, don't you could drop
them an email and say, hey, every day at this time,
this guy is here. Can we clean this up? And
it sounds like they're going.
Speaker 7 (11:44):
To do that.
Speaker 6 (11:46):
Yeah, I was just hoping it was starting today as
they said, went into effect today, So you know, I
was surprised to see somebody there. And then of course
the vehicle ahead of me gave him money exactly.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
And that's what keeps the guy there. Right. It's just yeah, Freddie,
appreciate the call it today. Thanks so much for listening
to us. Yeah, Kevin, thank you so much for calling in.
What's on your mind?
Speaker 8 (12:08):
Well, you know, I guess you know, I'm going to
have a little bit of a different spin on this,
and it begs the question do we not have something
better for our law enforcement officers to do?
Speaker 9 (12:20):
You know?
Speaker 8 (12:20):
And I'll just touch on two points. I think that
some people fall on hard times and it takes it
an immense amount of humility to position yourself in that
manner to just put your hand out. And I'm very compassionate,
and I'm guilty of helping these folks out. And the
story that I'll tell you is, I'll never forget. I
(12:43):
was on vacation from Iraq. I'm a veteran, I'm a
Marine Corps veteran. And I had come out of this
store and I had a five dollar bill and a
fifty dollars bill, and here's a guy. I knew he
was going to hit me up, and as I turned
my back to him, he says, hey, do you have
any spare change. I look in my wallet, give him
the fives, and they turn away. He said, God bless you.
(13:03):
I stopped and I said, hey, it's cold outside. Do
you have anywhere warm to stay? He said no. I
knew I was going back to Iraq the next day.
I handed him that fifty dollars bill. As soon as
I got back to the Middle East.
Speaker 5 (13:14):
The guy's rasped me so hard.
Speaker 8 (13:16):
They said, man, he either, you know, put that in
his arm or he used it for alcohol. But at
the end of the day, I think that's his choice.
You know, and I like to reflect on that and
think that man, that guy probably saw I'm just going to,
you know, flip the script a little bit. He probably
saw a little bit of a restore or faith in humanity,
(13:38):
and maybe he's a CEO somewhere. I wish I could
find a way to figure out where the heck that
guy is today, because maybe that could have just turned
his life around. And I get it, you know. I
listened to the last two callers, Mark and then the
I think Freddy, and she's taking a picture. She's taking
a picture of somebody who's hit probably one of the
lowest points in their life where they just can't get by.
(14:00):
And I've worked in homeless shelters, I've served food in
those same shelters, and I've seen people at those lowest points.
I just think that we can find a better way
to prioritize our law enforcement. And I also think we,
as just basic humanitarians, can find a better way to
lift people up.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
And that's just.
Speaker 8 (14:20):
Kind of where I stand in life. You know, I've
not always had it. I've had to reach out to
family and friends for help before, and I just don't
like to see people struggle. Now, I definitely don't want
to see somebody.
Speaker 10 (14:31):
I get it.
Speaker 8 (14:32):
Nobody wants to be fleeced, nobody wants to be taken
advantage of. But at the end of the day, it's
on that person. And if somebody shows them a random
act of kindness, and I believe that's the way to
turn this whole world around is through random active kindnesses.
You know, if somebody takes that and they squander it,
that's on them. But at least you can walk away
knowing that you tried to make an impactful change and
(14:54):
tried to be the change that you want to see.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yeah, Kevin, and I got to be honest with you,
just hearing the how you remember that moment it obviously
it had a profound impact on you, not just that
individual for the fifty five dollars that you gave him.
It had everything to do with how it made you
feel also, and there is something to be said for that. Also.
Thank you for your service, my friend. Thank you for
calling in today.
Speaker 8 (15:16):
I love listening to your show, and thanks for bringing
this topic up.
Speaker 10 (15:19):
You have a great day, you.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Too, Kevin. Good stuff. Uh uh, Yeah, there is that
humanitarian aspect that there is that random act of kindness perspective.
It is dangerous to have people standing at intersections. I
think that's probably the most important part of why this
(15:42):
is going to be beginning to be enforced more. But
where does it fall in the total poll for what
the Sheriff's department is going to be looking for? That
is I think, really what the crux of the conversation is.
Chris is on the phone line four oh two, five, five,
eight eleven ten. Chris, welcome in to our show today.
What's on your mind?
Speaker 9 (16:02):
Hey, Chris, great show that You're exactly right, and Douglas
County is exactly right. It's dangerous, Doly, people talk on
their phones, stets from the phones. I don't know if
they're looking for a lawsuit. But in material buddy of mine,
military buddy of mine, he told me out of state
to do this experiment on these people. And this was
(16:23):
a couple of years ago, and it's true you should
probably do the same. But it's I have not come
across these people on main highways, but like in a
box store parking lot where the island is and whatnot,
they're there asking for money. I need help, I need money,
I need this, But they don't ask for the food.
(16:44):
So you go get yourself cana spam or can something
or whatever. You give that to them. They don't want it.
Then hey, all right, you a check for one hundred bucks.
What's your first thing? Oh no, no, no, no, I need cash.
I can't have a check. Yeah, you ain't got an
ID to go to the bank or cash it. Or
(17:04):
you can go to grocery stores they can cash it. No,
no need, I need cash.
Speaker 6 (17:08):
I go.
Speaker 9 (17:09):
Well, all right, I just left from the grocery store.
I got some beer in the back of my pick up.
This crack open that thirty pack to help yourself. Oh,
thank praise the Lord. The Lord is with you. The
Lord is with you. And how many can I have?
As many as you want? So they go get their
backpack from the sign. And I don't know how many
they take till I get home and find out my
(17:29):
empty box count how many they took. But yeah, it's
just a game. Yeah, And he told me also, if
you have time on your watch to stay there, Chris
and watch. They will go to a fancy vehicle in
the parking lot way on the other side.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Right, they have witness, right, they know who they want
to be targeting. That's for sure. Chris, do appreciate your
calling in man, thanks for listening to the show.
Speaker 9 (17:56):
Have a great day.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Yeah, yeah, I do appreciate that we'll talk more about
this because, I if we're talking about it from this
angle and we're trying to be as thoughtful as we
can about it, there are many different ways in perspectives
that you can view this. Are there people that need help? Yes,
I a one hundred percent think do they If a
lot of these people like Kevin was talking about, do
(18:19):
they have a place to go? Probably not. There's not
a lot of people that do. But the busker that
I was talking about, busker, slash, you know, panhandler, whatever
you want to call him, and he said he made
eighty thousand dollars a year just doing that. I can't necessarily,
in a good faith with myself feel bad for a
person like that, Like are you mismanaging your money or
(18:40):
are you just not willing to do anything else? And
I mean why would you if you were willing to
just do that? You know, if you're willing to stand
there and beg people for money and you were making
a living off of it, why would you do anything else? Uh?
Are we helping those people I would be you know,
the other thing, are we enabling this behavior by offering
(19:02):
our good thoughts in our money or our beer or
whatever they're willing to take? Or are they if they
really want help, would they be willing to get help
if we gave it to them, or would they rather
just go on a street corner and try to make
eighty thousand dollars a year. We'll take more calls. Got
them lining up here four h two, five, five, eight
(19:24):
to eleven ten. We'll talk more about this coming up
next on news Radio eleven ten KFAB. The Truth and
Everything Important in Omaha and Beyond.
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Speaker 1 (23:38):
Four twenty two. When we're here live for you and
good conversation that we're having, I'm really excited to continue it.
As we are speaking about the panhandling or the bagging
or whatever terminology you'd like to call it, for people
who are on the side of the road with a
sign that says, hey, I'm homeless. Hey, anything helps say.
(23:59):
You know, people make funny ones sometimes with smiley faces
and stuff on them, and they just want you to
give them money or anything like that. And we as
we've detailed the reason people do this is because they
actually get money, they do pretty well for themselves. In
a lot of cases, that's not necessarily everyone, but this
is why this is a thing. And Douglas County Sheriff's
Office says, we're going to crack down on this and
(24:19):
we're going to have basically a no tolerance policy once
we realize where people are and how often they're there.
Let's get back to the phones. Four h two, five, five,
eight to eleven, ten and Sarah is on the line. Welcome in, Sarah.
What's on your mind on this?
Speaker 7 (24:32):
Yes, Emie, thanks for having this conversation and this topic.
I've experienced seeing people that are homeless in Chicago where
I went to college, and in Arizona, where I've lived
and taught in the ghetto side of the inner city
music in a public school in the inner city. And
then I mean, my family tried to help to a
(24:52):
gentlemen that we were able to have come to our
church and have for dinner and try to help them
with like ideas and that kind of thing in terms
of maybe getting off the streets. And it's a really
complex issue with no easy answers. But I think first
of all, the folks that are begging or panhandling. They're
on the medians. There's been in our area here near
(25:13):
one hundred and eighth and Q there have been signs
that have put up the thing. You know, Uh, it's
unlawful to occupy the medians. They're not on every single
water Sometimes they get bumped down by a vehicle, but
it's unlawful to be and so it's right there for
that person to see that. A lot of times they
(25:33):
just get ignored, and it is dangerous if you and
I have I admit I stopped to hand out water
food to feel that could be a hault, especially in
the heat. But it's dangerous if you try to be
there at the light when it's red hand these things
out to a person and then the light transgraining the
person behind you to speed forward. You know, it could
be an accident or that person their arm could be
(25:55):
in your view. I mean, I don't have to see
all those things that are dangerous, sure, but we do
have a really good I mean we have Vincent de Paul.
We have the Open Door Mission with the Lydia House Open.
Their mission has wonderful programs where folks can get you know,
they can do schooling or classes, things to get you know.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
We're doing our we're doing our radiothon with We're doing
our radiothon with them on Thursday this week, so open.
Our mission will be here Yeah.
Speaker 7 (26:22):
Oh sure, sure for Thanksgiving.
Speaker 16 (26:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (26:24):
So, and I think, I think, I know documentary is
way these years past where they follow folks who had
done the panhandling back to mansions, back to huge houses
with cars, you know, and they make that money. And
I mean, if the person can going music and earn
eighty thousand dollars, man, they could, why not?
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Well exactly and and and that's and I think that's
the bigger point. It is dangerous. But the reason they're
willing to take the danger is because they are making
the money and and it's working for them. Sarah, it's
a great point. Thanks for adding your experiences with us today.
Speaker 7 (26:56):
Oh can you say one more quick?
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Say one more twigs?
Speaker 16 (27:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (27:01):
So it's on the radio saying that a's t legal,
it's out in the laws, and the news that they're
going to crack down and bring people in or give
them a crin. But the folks on the medians aren't
going to hear you that news. So I thought that
was kind of interesting.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Well, and that's the other thing too, is it? And
I appreciate the call, Sarah, I for whenever it's worth.
It's been against the law for a long long time,
you know, the enforcement has been the issue, and now
it sounds like the Sheriff's office is willing to enforce it.
Bob's on the phone line, Bob, Welcome into the show today.
What's on your mind? Hello?
Speaker 14 (27:36):
Bob?
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Are you there? All right? We're moving to George. George.
Thank you for being on the show today. George, what's
on your mind? Do we have George? Nope, we accidentally
lost George too. Sorry, George, call back please. Brad is
on the phone line. Brad, Hello, how are you today?
Speaker 10 (27:54):
Hey, Brad call. I appreciate it. I think that I
really struggle with the idea that we got to figure
how it's going to cost us one way or the other.
I find it kind of crazy that we've got these
anecdotal stories of it's dangerous out there. Has the Sheriff's
Department released any data on that. We have one story
about eighty thousand, but we know that fifty to sixty
percent of these folks have drug issues, and we keep
(28:17):
on cutting mental and public health funding, and we're going
to charge homeless people twenty five dollars and then eventually
put them in jail and pay for them in jail,
and not give them any any benefits societal benefits inside
to try and help them, help them and lift them up.
We just say you're for you're broke. H What are
you supposed to do?
Speaker 14 (28:34):
Yes?
Speaker 10 (28:34):
And I think that's what is I hear these callers
call in and you think, well, yeah, but I mean
all of us have a family member who struggles with
mess for a different addiction. I guarantee everyone knows one
like that. And we look down on these one say
there is no help, there is no hope.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Yeah, it's a good point, Bret, and I guess this
kind of goes back to our conversation yesterday about the
people who potentially could be fined for having their car
parked on their lawn now here in Maha. I think
the bigger issue is are there solutions? Are there better
solutions that you can offer to you know, change why
people are doing this in the first place. So, Brad,
(29:10):
what would be a solution that you would suggest that
we could do while we try to clean this problem up.
What could we offer to these people or these individuals,
And would you change your mind if we offered that
to them and they just outright refused that kind of help.
Speaker 10 (29:26):
I think that's fair. I think it's mental health funding.
I mean it really is. And the word could even
be used as far as institutionalizing. But when people have
people have an issue, we look at putting them in
just increctional facilities and we hear all those stories. We
need to seriously have public funding for mental health. I
mean that that is the solution. We need these psychiatric clinics.
We need people to go because right now, actually the
(29:48):
police department, while they are going to start charging unless
people homeless people for loitering, they've actually openly called and
said that individuals within the community should take these people
into shelter. That on our society to maybe pay all
chip in ten dollars more towards mental health funding, which
we've seen the state get rid of and a lot
across the Midwest. It's not a hard path to follow
(30:09):
when we remove mental health institutions and we say hey,
you're struggling, good luck.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Yeah, it's a good point. Brad and I appreciate the
call to day. Thanks for calling in and sharing that
with us today. Yeah. So, if that, my only concern
would be if we offered that. I don't want to
be putting my taxpayer dollars into a program to try
to help people who do not want to help. And
(30:37):
how much would they want to help if they're making
fifty sixty seventy eighty thousand dollars a year doing it
this way?
Speaker 18 (30:43):
Right?
Speaker 1 (30:44):
If we came to them and said, I can find
you a place to live, we can give you a
situation where you can get back into the workforce, would
you take it. We can help you get clean, take
you to rehab. If we put tax dollars into help
our fellow man, certainly I would be interested in that.
But part of that is is like, are you willing
at a certain point to get the help real quick?
(31:05):
I'll take George here, George, sorry about that snafu with
you a little bit earlier. What's on your mind on this?
Speaker 18 (31:11):
No problem, brother, I said, you cannot give these people money.
You can buy them lunch, you can take the McDonald's,
but you do not give them past three times in
my life I've helped people in this way. I had
a guy live in my shed in my backyard, which
is twenty by twelve. I put in there a couple
of years ago. Didn't have no place to go summertime.
A year and a half ago, I said, you can
move into my shed. He'd been sleeping on the river
(31:32):
and city tourist tent down. Okay, get him a job.
He's getting fifty dollars a day. He's working about two
and a half hours and a free tree meal. He
lived there for eighteen months, to which I insulated. I
put an air conditioner in there for the summer. I
put heat in there for the winter. I put cable
TV in there. After eighteen months, he gets comfortable, starts
having obos over, drinking beer. He quits his job. I'm going, like,
(31:55):
what's going on, dude? He goes and he lived there
for eighteen months, rent free. You know he can't I
charge you guy to live in the shed. I had
Health and Human Services department show up at my house,
go you got a guy who lives in your shed.
I'm going, well, that'd be none of your business. And
had a little but finally after he wouldn't take care
of himself. You know, I said, you got to go.
The second time was a guy sitting on the corner
(32:15):
down in the Old Market on a Sunday afternoon asking
for money pobo backpack. I said, look, dude, I'll buy
you lunch. Took him into Billy Frogs, bought him lunch.
He told me a story. I said, here's my card.
I own a trucking company. I said, you can come
there tomorrow clean up. I'll pay you fifteen dollars an
hour cash. I've told this to one hundreds of people
over twenty thirty years. At five o'clock in the morning,
I pull up to the fence. He's sitting on seventy six
(32:37):
and f next to my gate, which tells me he
walked all night to get there from the Old Market.
So he comes in. He works for me for three days,
and his story was he came out of Utah. He
was worked in construction two thousand and eight. The housing
market crash, and he thought he could wait it out
to go back to work, and he ran out of money,
made it to Denver's car broke down, Okay, didn't have
money to fix hiking no more anyhow.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Yeah, George, I'm running out of time. Can we hold
on to the next segment. Canro it? Okay, I'll hold
on to the next segment. Sorry about that already interrupt
I'm just running a long time here. We'll get to
the finish a history, because I think it's important for
this kind of context. George, can you pick up that
second story where you left off for us, and I'm
interested in how it ended up playing out?
Speaker 15 (33:19):
Yeah?
Speaker 10 (33:19):
Brother.
Speaker 18 (33:20):
Anyhow, the kid ended up being from a little town
outside of Chicago. So he's sitting at my gate at
five thirty in the morning. That told me he walked
all the way from downtown to seventy six in f Street.
So I take him in and he give him some
cigarettes he doesn't have any, make coffee, and tell him
he's going to sweep up round the dock, clean up,
stack pallets up. I'll give him fifteen dollars an hour.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Okay.
Speaker 18 (33:39):
He works for me from five o'clock in the morning
till five thirty at night, twelve and a half hours.
I asked if he can work again tomorrow. I said sure,
he goes, could I stay in your parking lot in
one of the empty trailers. I got my sleeping bag
and stuff. I go sure. So he works for me.
The next day I left the door open so he
could use the bathroom in the washroom, and the third
day took him to the truck stop. Sad you're going
to walk, I show all your stuff. I sent two
(34:01):
drivers every night to rock On in Illinois. They meet
Chicago drivers and switch trailers. I said, I talked to
the guy in Chicago. My man's going to take you
to Rock Island tonight. The Chicago driver's going to take
you back in home home to Chicago. So about two
weeks later, I get a letter in the mail. I'm
standing out there. It just says George Irish Express. I
open up the letter. It's from the kid's mom. He goes.
She goes, I don't know who you are, but my
(34:22):
kid come home with five hundred and thirty dollars in
his pocket and told me you got him to five
hundred miles home, gave him a place to sleep and
some work. She goes, I just called say or sent
the letters. Say thank you.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
Wow, it's small things.
Speaker 18 (34:34):
It's not big things.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
Hey, George, really appreciate you giving us some of the
perspective on this story today. Thank you so much for
calling in later. Bro Man It's interesting, right because you
get you know, you talked about the one thing where
he had helped the guy for basically eighteen months, and
he kind of took advantage of him a bit, and
then it's you know, just for a few days and
helped get this guy home. Next thing, you know, he's
(35:00):
you know, probably changed his life for the better in
many ways just those few days that you know, George
was able to help him. Phone lines still open A
four O two five five eight eleven ten. Mark is
on the line now, Mark, do appreciate you for holding
what's on your mind today?
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Hey, I really I like that story that the George
just has talked about. But the sad part is, I
think that is is maybe one percent of the cases
that somebody actually needs help. I think the problem is
is the rest of them, they they don't even want it.
You know, they created this for themselves. But anyway, I digress.
(35:38):
The reason I called as they're trying to figure out
solutions for this, and I sit here and I think
we have all these programs, all these people they get
theirselves into trouble and there they're sentenced community service, right,
so they have to serve it because they got themselves
into trouble. But these guys that they're they're down and
(36:01):
they're out, and they're stuck to standing at the end
of interstates and stuff like this, trying to make a
means to an end. And I'm sure we got a
twenty five dollars fee. But offer them, offer them something,
create a program to to get them into this customer
service or not customer service, but community service program where
(36:24):
the city can can pay them a wage. You know, hey,
you want to do something. You can't get a job
because no one wants to hire you because of what
you've done to yourself and everybody knows how that works.
Your work history sucks, and no one wants to hire you.
But we have this program that you can get into
(36:45):
if you want to better yourself. Get into this, earn
some wages, and we have programs to get you into
something to get you out of the streets and out
of being forced to stay in on this side of
the road.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
Right. And so, Mark, I guess my only angle to this,
because I think most people would agree if we could
establish that, and that is, you know, anybody who's needing help,
there is a program in which you can openly enroll
and you don't have to pay any money to get involved.
If you're really down on your luck, it would take
(37:21):
some tax dollars and take some government money. But what
is the threshold? What about if there are a bunch
of people who are not interested in that help, should
we still be actively enforcing the painhandling rules to make sure.
Speaker 6 (37:39):
Emory?
Speaker 2 (37:40):
I think it comes down to to tough love. I mean,
because if you if you don't, they're just going to continue.
And there is a caller previously that said, oh well,
we just need to provide mental health benefits. Well, what
costs more given the opportunity to better themselves on their
(38:02):
own or just adding to the problem and saying okay, yeah,
come into this mental health institution. And then I mean
what tax dollars wise? What costs more? And we all
know that to to get the medical side involved with
mental health? And then you have what's mental health and
what's not? And next thing you know, you're just dumping
(38:24):
a truckload of money into something that doesn't really solve
a problem. Yeah, tough love sometimes is the best way.
Speaker 10 (38:32):
You force it.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
Yeah, Mark, you appreciate the call today. I thanks so
much for listening to our show.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
Yeah, I think he's on the right track. And you know,
I think everybody has had really good points. I don't
think there is just a universal right answer to this.
This is why it's so fascinating to hear everybody speak,
because everybody kind of comes at it from a different angle.
Tough love is important, I think, and enforcement is important.
But you're also, I think, going to need a solution
otherwise these people are just going to keep doing this.
(38:59):
You're going to chase out of town. Are they all
just gonna go to the Old Market and be begging
down there? I mean, the Sheriff's office isn't gonna be
able to solve that problem. The Sheriff's office is not
gonna go to Old Market and see all the people
that are kind of congregating on busy nights asking people
for money down there. How do you fix that problem?
Is there a way you can fix that problem? I
don't think so. You know, like the Sheriff's office can't
(39:20):
do it. It's got to be an OPD thing. Do
we want the OPD who's down there trying to keep
people safe in the gene Leahy Mall and down by
the riverfront and downtown throughout the evening. Are you gonna
be calling them and saying, officer, officer, we have somebody
who's homeless, person that's holding a sign and begging people
for money.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
No.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
I mean, it's just you're not gonna be able to
clean that up too, you know, on the highways one
thing in town, it's a completely different situation, but the
result typically is the same for these people. Vincent, what
do you think about this?
Speaker 3 (39:48):
Well, I mean I wondered, like the question of that
gentleman who helped that other gentleman out and the good
thing he did for him and all that, and it
is in the last callers like how do you judge?
You know, how do you know they have a sign
it says, you know, if it needs help for God
bless we need. I'm a vet, you know, and you
(40:09):
look at them and you judge them kind of and
you're like, I'd even seen some that have dogs, and
I felt more sorry for the dog in the middle
of the summer, said their patent. I'm like, I wanted
to throw a bottle of water and said here, here's
the water for your dog. But the biggest thing is
is the area around seventy second and Grover between the
off Ram there is a dozen of them there and
(40:32):
not only are they panting on, but they are living there.
They are building their houses right on the edge of
the seventy second on the eastbound, just on like you know,
on the concrete pillar. They're they're shopping carts, they're mattresses, whatever.
But the biggest thing is is they're trash. They have
nowhere to throw their trash, so all their corporate boxes,
(40:53):
all that's just laying around and it's just it's ugly.
And they must have said something because this has been
a couple of months ago and I haven't seen their
houses right on. I mean they were right on the
corner of seventy second Grover where the power boxes were
making carbon boxes houses between the power boxes and stuff,
(41:13):
you know, and and it was down in the area
of UMC and stuff in the hospitals, and it's even
worse down there.
Speaker 10 (41:19):
They're on the.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
Corners and that they had even a picture and mirror
and paintings like hanging from the trees, and I thought, wow,
that's insane.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Yeah, I mean, what are we even doing at that point?
Like they have no respect for what exactly is going
on at that point. That isn't about trying to help
somebody who needs help. That is somebody who's taking advantage
of our system, is what that is.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
Right, And these are people that I'm that they I'm
not sure if you find them, but you at least
got to get them a warning and say look you
can't you got it. But I did notice on the
way in the night they have their little tent house
down in the bottom of the waterway where now you
can see it because the leaves are gone and it's
just trash down there.
Speaker 1 (41:59):
I mean, yeah, yeah, Vincent up, Yeah, I'm with you,
and I think that's a huge problem. That's part of
this as well. I appreciate the call, buddy. I want
to get to Cindy real quick before I run out
of time. Cindy, what's on your mind today?
Speaker 5 (42:11):
Well, I'll tell you. I know that there's a lot
of Catholic schools that are not being used anymore. Yeah,
and they have I mean, they're empty.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
So so are you suggesting that maybe like that that
could be a possible solution for housing.
Speaker 5 (42:30):
Yes, I mean they have bad you know, they have
the classroom, they have the bathrooms, they would have probably
you know, a shower type of thing, right. You know,
I don't know about.
Speaker 3 (42:43):
Food, but a kitchen, you know, I mean.
Speaker 1 (42:46):
It's there's a place for them to say, is what
you're saying.
Speaker 5 (42:49):
They're beautiful buildings, yeah, with lots of room.
Speaker 1 (42:53):
Cindy appreciate it. Thanks for the thought today. Yeah,
Here's an interesting story that came out yesterday and got
my attention. I just didn't have time to squeeze it
into the show yesterday. It's it's not like a hey
me on the lookout if you're a if you're a panhandler,
this would affect you. But what do we do with panhandlers?
All right? So what is panhandling? Well, this I think
(00:24):
by defined in including Statute sixty six one four UH,
it is illegal in that state statute to stand, sit, walk,
or solicit on controlled access highways or controlled access highway
exits or on rams. The the moin or I keep
(00:46):
saying the moin. This is the thing I said the
moin for almost my entire life. And I bring one
the moin guy onto the show and all of a
sudden pow right in my face. He's I can't stop
saying it. Douglas Douglas Douglas Douglas County Sheriff. The Sheriff's
Office released this and basically said, if there was a
(01:14):
there's going to be I think a pretty important conversation
that we just need to generally have about this stuff
because what is you know, from Aaron Hanson's perspective, he's
trying to enforce an already existing law. But when we're
talking about what the law is, are you complicit if
(01:36):
you give money to people that are soliciting? I mean,
not like in a legal way. But the reason people
would be panhandling or sitting here on the streets and
doing this sort of thing is because they're making money
doing it. I talked to one guy. He more busks,
(01:58):
but sometimes he does the panhandling. But I was talking
to him because he did an interview with someone that
I was working with at the time, and he basically said,
I make close to eighty grand a year just doing this. Huh,
you heard me? He said in this this is not
(02:18):
in a place as big as Omaha. It's a big place,
but it's not as big as Omaha. And he said,
I probably make close to eighty grand a year between
my busking on street corners, random street corners and panhandling
when I don't feel like playing my instrument. And he says,
(02:40):
that's my job. I don't do anything else. By the way,
the guy can't even play the guitar. He stands there
and he tries to sing and he just kind of
strums the guitar. He's not even really playing anything. I mean,
it's Gibberius stuff. And somehow he's the reason he got
interviews because everybody knows who he is because they see
him different places around town. And he said eighty thousand dollars.
(03:02):
He thinks, now he could be pulling my leg. But
if he says that's the only thing that he's doing,
I tend to believe him. Forty dollars an hour, essentially,
So think about what that would be. That's a lot
of variables out out of consideration, just for the sake
of it. Forty forty dollars an hour. That's a standard
work week for forty hours a week, is what you're saying.
(03:23):
So let's say for eight hours a day, you go
and you pay a handle, and you go and you
stand on a street, corner, my street, corner, an exit,
an exit ramp, on ramp, or you know, just like
hanging out on the side of the road somewhere on
I don't know, maybe coming or on Dodge or just
(03:45):
somewhere where there would be people stopping. Because that's the
only way it works, right, is you just got to
be at a place where you're stopped and for eight
hours a day. Essentially, you stand there and if ten
people give you five dollars, eight people give you five
dollars based on your math in one hour, just eight
of the hundreds of cars you're probably seeing in an hour,
(04:09):
If eight people stop and give you a five dollar bill,
you would be making if you did that every single day,
that I mean, that's all you need. That's all you'd need.
It's eight people an hour to give you five dollars
and you're making eighty grand a year. Pretty crazy stuff. Now,
(04:30):
the reason I should I should elicit you know, like
what The exact explanation here is from Aaron Hanson, the
sheriff of Douglas County, says, this is standing, sitting, walking,
and soliciting on controlled access highways or controlled access highway
exit on on ramps is not only dangerous, but it
is illegal per the state Statute sixty dash six one four.
(04:54):
It is happening too often in Douglas County, further violating
the law right in front of signs that warn again
the exact illegal behavior is bold in an obvious cry
for attention. Violators have my attention, starting immediately. Douglas County
Sheriff's Office cat and Road Patrol will be taking zero
tolerance enforcement action to curtail this risky illegal behavior before
(05:17):
somebody gets hurt or killed. Citizens with tips on locations,
days and times of known frequent violators can pass along
their tips via dcso CAT at Douglas County Dashne dot gov. Wow,
and I say wow because with immediate effect, right, And
(05:39):
this goes back to our parking on your grass conversation
that we had yesterday. Is this really what we want
the Sheriff's Department to be worrying about? It is a
safety hazard, sure, but what are you going to do
with these people if they are legitimately homeless, if they
legitimately don't have money, if they legitimately have no job
besides you know, doing this for whatever it's worth. Even
(06:02):
if they're choosing this lifestyle, where are you going to
take them? How are you going to stop them from
finding a different spot? All this stuff like, what are
the what are the punishments that you're going to give
to a person? And how many offenses will it take
for them to actually have a day in court on
something like this? Is this that serious of a thing
that we're going to put our resources to use for
(06:23):
that call us if you got some thoughts on this,
because I'm going to need your thoughts. I don't really know.
I've never really been one to give people money like this,
but I know what happens, and I know I see
the people, I see people giving them stuff. Panhandling. Sheriff
Aaron Hanson of Douglas County says, we are going to
(06:43):
start cracking down immediately on people who are panhandling. They
have their signs next to roads, next to exit ramps.
They are asking people for money. If they use or
if somebody gives us a tip or we see this,
we are going to say this is a violation of
State Statute sixty dash six, and this is you're in trouble.
(07:03):
I don't know what that enforcement looks like, and I
don't know where they're going to take these people, but
it's certainly we have a problem that's being addressed. But
I think we might need to know more solutions. And
I think a lot of people in the comments section
that is something that they're talking about here too. But
I want your thoughts on panhandling in general, but also
what we would do in this scenario with this increased
(07:26):
you know, enforcement and crackdown on violators. Mark's on the
phone line at four, two, five, five, eight, eleven ten.
Welcome into the show. Mark, what's on your mind today?
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Hey, Emory, how are we doing today? I get off
the Interstate every day at I eighty and Maple Street,
and today was the first day in a long time
that it was empty. So it's one nice to know
that the enforcement is actually happening because it was empty
(08:00):
and it hasn't been empty in years.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Secondly, when it comes to that, you know, it's a
it's a it's a thin red line when it comes
at the panhandling. I understand why these folks are doing it.
They're doing it for means to an end and this
and that. But but it's also it's ugly for the
city when when you get off the Inner State on
(08:23):
almost every exit, you know, this is what you see,
and it's it's it's discouraging, uh when you think about
where your city's going, and you know, are we doing good?
Are we not doing good? But that's that's what it is.
So one, I'm happy to see that what our leaders
(08:44):
and you know, it's actually happening. The enforcement is actually happening.
It's just not words that are being said. So that's encouraging.
But there's there's permits, there's panhandling permits, there's ways to
do this legally and properly. So it's only a twenty
five dollars fine. So it's a twenty five dollars fine
(09:07):
to somebody who's standing there. And like you said earlier,
if eight people give five bucks, I mean, you can
certainly afford a twenty five dollars fine. Let's find a
new place to do this, Let's not do it on
the interstates, and maybe hopefully they could come up with
the program just give these guys permits and educate them
on where and how is the legal way to take
(09:32):
care of this. That way you can legitimately earn your
income and try to better yourself and maybe even pay
a little taxes along the way.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Yeah, well that would be my thing. That'd be my thing.
Mark is like, well, we're even are we on just
like giving panhandler's money, Like, are we wanting to encourage
this type of behavior by just giving people on the
side of the road for no reason at all, just
giving them money?
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Technically, in my opinion, panhandling isn't Hey look at how
well I drew this sign that says anything helps. That's
not panhandling. Uh, standing there, having something to offer, whether
it be a form of entertainment or or something, you know,
that would encourage somebody to give you a few bucks.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Rightieth Yeah, yeah, you know, but just begging for money?
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Hey, you know somebody.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Just sitting there saying anything helps.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Yeah, that's not panhandling.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Interesting begging. Mark, appreciate the call today, Thanks for listening
to the show.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
God Bless America, Amory.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Yeah, it's an interesting way that he put that there,
because you know, the difference between begging and panhandling could
be drawn here. I think this goes for both, honestly,
For whatever that's worth. Freddy's on the phone line. We'll
get Freddy in here. Freddie, appreciate the call today. What's
on your mind?
Speaker 5 (10:56):
Hey, Amory?
Speaker 6 (10:58):
So I just exited Danner Stay is Six's eighty and
northbound at where you get off and go on Maple Street. Yeah,
and the same guy is still there that he's there
every day.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Okay, So they haven't got that guy yet?
Speaker 5 (11:12):
Yeah no they have not.
Speaker 6 (11:14):
No I even took his picture.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Well they have, but but Freddie, now they have a
tip line they say, if you want to get somebody removed,
just tip on the location the times that you see
that person. They have an email d S or d
C S O C A T at Douglas County dash
inne dot gov. So if you remember that, I mean,
(11:36):
if you go to their website, don't you could drop
them an email and say, hey, every day at this time,
this guy is here. Can we clean this up? And
it sounds like they're going.
Speaker 7 (11:44):
To do that.
Speaker 6 (11:46):
Yeah, I was just hoping it was starting today as
they said, went into effect today, So you know, I
was surprised to see somebody there. And then of course
the vehicle ahead of me gave him money exactly.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
And that's what keeps the guy there. Right. It's just yeah, Freddie,
appreciate the call it today. Thanks so much for listening
to us. Yeah, Kevin, thank you so much for calling in.
What's on your mind?
Speaker 8 (12:08):
Well, you know, I guess you know, I'm going to
have a little bit of a different spin on this,
and it begs the question do we not have something
better for our law enforcement officers to do?
Speaker 9 (12:20):
You know?
Speaker 8 (12:20):
And I'll just touch on two points. I think that
some people fall on hard times and it takes it
an immense amount of humility to position yourself in that
manner to just put your hand out. And I'm very compassionate,
and I'm guilty of helping these folks out. And the
story that I'll tell you is, I'll never forget. I
(12:43):
was on vacation from Iraq. I'm a veteran, I'm a
Marine Corps veteran. And I had come out of this
store and I had a five dollar bill and a
fifty dollars bill, and here's a guy. I knew he
was going to hit me up, and as I turned
my back to him, he says, hey, do you have
any spare change. I look in my wallet, give him
the fives, and they turn away. He said, God bless you.
(13:03):
I stopped and I said, hey, it's cold outside. Do
you have anywhere warm to stay? He said no. I
knew I was going back to Iraq the next day.
I handed him that fifty dollars bill. As soon as
I got back to the Middle East.
Speaker 5 (13:14):
The guy's rasped me so hard.
Speaker 8 (13:16):
They said, man, he either, you know, put that in
his arm or he used it for alcohol. But at
the end of the day, I think that's his choice.
You know, and I like to reflect on that and
think that man, that guy probably saw I'm just going to,
you know, flip the script a little bit. He probably
saw a little bit of a restore or faith in humanity,
(13:38):
and maybe he's a CEO somewhere. I wish I could
find a way to figure out where the heck that
guy is today, because maybe that could have just turned
his life around. And I get it, you know. I
listened to the last two callers, Mark and then the
I think Freddy, and she's taking a picture. She's taking
a picture of somebody who's hit probably one of the
lowest points in their life where they just can't get by.
(14:00):
And I've worked in homeless shelters, I've served food in
those same shelters, and I've seen people at those lowest points.
I just think that we can find a better way
to prioritize our law enforcement. And I also think we,
as just basic humanitarians, can find a better way to
lift people up.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
And that's just.
Speaker 8 (14:20):
Kind of where I stand in life. You know, I've
not always had it. I've had to reach out to
family and friends for help before, and I just don't
like to see people struggle. Now, I definitely don't want
to see somebody.
Speaker 10 (14:31):
I get it.
Speaker 8 (14:32):
Nobody wants to be fleeced, nobody wants to be taken
advantage of. But at the end of the day, it's
on that person. And if somebody shows them a random
act of kindness, and I believe that's the way to
turn this whole world around is through random active kindnesses.
You know, if somebody takes that and they squander it,
that's on them. But at least you can walk away
knowing that you tried to make an impactful change and
(14:54):
tried to be the change that you want to see.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yeah, Kevin, and I got to be honest with you,
just hearing the how you remember that moment it obviously
it had a profound impact on you, not just that
individual for the fifty five dollars that you gave him.
It had everything to do with how it made you
feel also, and there is something to be said for that. Also.
Thank you for your service, my friend. Thank you for
calling in today.
Speaker 8 (15:16):
I love listening to your show, and thanks for bringing
this topic up.
Speaker 10 (15:19):
You have a great day, you.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Too, Kevin. Good stuff. Uh uh, Yeah, there is that
humanitarian aspect that there is that random act of kindness perspective.
It is dangerous to have people standing at intersections. I
think that's probably the most important part of why this
(15:42):
is going to be beginning to be enforced more. But
where does it fall in the total poll for what
the Sheriff's department is going to be looking for? That
is I think, really what the crux of the conversation is.
Chris is on the phone line four oh two, five, five,
eight eleven ten. Chris, welcome in to our show today.
What's on your mind?
Speaker 9 (16:02):
Hey, Chris, great show that You're exactly right, and Douglas
County is exactly right. It's dangerous, Doly, people talk on
their phones, stets from the phones. I don't know if
they're looking for a lawsuit. But in material buddy of mine,
military buddy of mine, he told me out of state
to do this experiment on these people. And this was
(16:23):
a couple of years ago, and it's true you should
probably do the same. But it's I have not come
across these people on main highways, but like in a
box store parking lot where the island is and whatnot,
they're there asking for money. I need help, I need money,
I need this, But they don't ask for the food.
(16:44):
So you go get yourself cana spam or can something
or whatever. You give that to them. They don't want it.
Then hey, all right, you a check for one hundred bucks.
What's your first thing? Oh no, no, no, no, I need cash.
I can't have a check. Yeah, you ain't got an
ID to go to the bank or cash it. Or
(17:04):
you can go to grocery stores they can cash it. No,
no need, I need cash.
Speaker 6 (17:08):
I go.
Speaker 9 (17:09):
Well, all right, I just left from the grocery store.
I got some beer in the back of my pick up.
This crack open that thirty pack to help yourself. Oh,
thank praise the Lord. The Lord is with you. The
Lord is with you. And how many can I have?
As many as you want? So they go get their
backpack from the sign. And I don't know how many
they take till I get home and find out my
(17:29):
empty box count how many they took. But yeah, it's
just a game. Yeah, And he told me also, if
you have time on your watch to stay there, Chris
and watch. They will go to a fancy vehicle in
the parking lot way on the other side.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Right, they have witness, right, they know who they want
to be targeting. That's for sure. Chris, do appreciate your
calling in man, thanks for listening to the show.
Speaker 9 (17:56):
Have a great day.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Yeah, yeah, I do appreciate that we'll talk more about
this because, I if we're talking about it from this
angle and we're trying to be as thoughtful as we
can about it, there are many different ways in perspectives
that you can view this. Are there people that need help? Yes,
I a one hundred percent think do they If a
lot of these people like Kevin was talking about, do
(18:19):
they have a place to go? Probably not. There's not
a lot of people that do. But the busker that
I was talking about, busker, slash, you know, panhandler, whatever
you want to call him, and he said he made
eighty thousand dollars a year just doing that. I can't necessarily,
in a good faith with myself feel bad for a
person like that, Like are you mismanaging your money or
(18:40):
are you just not willing to do anything else? And
I mean why would you if you were willing to
just do that? You know, if you're willing to stand
there and beg people for money and you were making
a living off of it, why would you do anything else? Uh?
Are we helping those people I would be you know,
the other thing, are we enabling this behavior by offering
(19:02):
our good thoughts in our money or our beer or
whatever they're willing to take? Or are they if they
really want help, would they be willing to get help
if we gave it to them, or would they rather
just go on a street corner and try to make
eighty thousand dollars a year. We'll take more calls. Got
them lining up here four h two, five, five, eight
(19:24):
to eleven ten. We'll talk more about this coming up
next on news Radio eleven ten KFAB. The Truth and
Everything Important in Omaha and Beyond.
Speaker 11 (19:33):
Emery Sunger on news Radio eleven ten KFAB.
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Speaker 1 (23:38):
Four twenty two. When we're here live for you and
good conversation that we're having, I'm really excited to continue it.
As we are speaking about the panhandling or the bagging
or whatever terminology you'd like to call it, for people
who are on the side of the road with a
sign that says, hey, I'm homeless. Hey, anything helps say.
(23:59):
You know, people make funny ones sometimes with smiley faces
and stuff on them, and they just want you to
give them money or anything like that. And we as
we've detailed the reason people do this is because they
actually get money, they do pretty well for themselves. In
a lot of cases, that's not necessarily everyone, but this
is why this is a thing. And Douglas County Sheriff's
Office says, we're going to crack down on this and
(24:19):
we're going to have basically a no tolerance policy once
we realize where people are and how often they're there.
Let's get back to the phones. Four h two, five, five,
eight to eleven, ten and Sarah is on the line. Welcome in, Sarah.
What's on your mind on this?
Speaker 7 (24:32):
Yes, Emie, thanks for having this conversation and this topic.
I've experienced seeing people that are homeless in Chicago where
I went to college, and in Arizona, where I've lived
and taught in the ghetto side of the inner city
music in a public school in the inner city. And
then I mean, my family tried to help to a
(24:52):
gentlemen that we were able to have come to our
church and have for dinner and try to help them
with like ideas and that kind of thing in terms
of maybe getting off the streets. And it's a really
complex issue with no easy answers. But I think first
of all, the folks that are begging or panhandling. They're
on the medians. There's been in our area here near
(25:13):
one hundred and eighth and Q there have been signs
that have put up the thing. You know, Uh, it's
unlawful to occupy the medians. They're not on every single
water Sometimes they get bumped down by a vehicle, but
it's unlawful to be and so it's right there for
that person to see that. A lot of times they
(25:33):
just get ignored, and it is dangerous if you and
I have I admit I stopped to hand out water
food to feel that could be a hault, especially in
the heat. But it's dangerous if you try to be
there at the light when it's red hand these things
out to a person and then the light transgraining the
person behind you to speed forward. You know, it could
be an accident or that person their arm could be
(25:55):
in your view. I mean, I don't have to see
all those things that are dangerous, sure, but we do
have a really good I mean we have Vincent de Paul.
We have the Open Door Mission with the Lydia House Open.
Their mission has wonderful programs where folks can get you know,
they can do schooling or classes, things to get you know.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
We're doing our we're doing our radiothon with We're doing
our radiothon with them on Thursday this week, so open.
Our mission will be here Yeah.
Speaker 7 (26:22):
Oh sure, sure for Thanksgiving.
Speaker 16 (26:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (26:24):
So, and I think, I think, I know documentary is
way these years past where they follow folks who had
done the panhandling back to mansions, back to huge houses
with cars, you know, and they make that money. And
I mean, if the person can going music and earn
eighty thousand dollars, man, they could, why not?
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Well exactly and and and that's and I think that's
the bigger point. It is dangerous. But the reason they're
willing to take the danger is because they are making
the money and and it's working for them. Sarah, it's
a great point. Thanks for adding your experiences with us today.
Speaker 7 (26:56):
Oh can you say one more quick?
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Say one more twigs?
Speaker 16 (27:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (27:01):
So it's on the radio saying that a's t legal,
it's out in the laws, and the news that they're
going to crack down and bring people in or give
them a crin. But the folks on the medians aren't
going to hear you that news. So I thought that
was kind of interesting.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Well, and that's the other thing too, is it? And
I appreciate the call, Sarah, I for whenever it's worth.
It's been against the law for a long long time,
you know, the enforcement has been the issue, and now
it sounds like the Sheriff's office is willing to enforce it.
Bob's on the phone line, Bob, Welcome into the show today.
What's on your mind? Hello?
Speaker 14 (27:36):
Bob?
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Are you there? All right? We're moving to George. George.
Thank you for being on the show today. George, what's
on your mind? Do we have George? Nope, we accidentally
lost George too. Sorry, George, call back please. Brad is
on the phone line. Brad, Hello, how are you today?
Speaker 10 (27:54):
Hey, Brad call. I appreciate it. I think that I
really struggle with the idea that we got to figure
how it's going to cost us one way or the other.
I find it kind of crazy that we've got these
anecdotal stories of it's dangerous out there. Has the Sheriff's
Department released any data on that. We have one story
about eighty thousand, but we know that fifty to sixty
percent of these folks have drug issues, and we keep
(28:17):
on cutting mental and public health funding, and we're going
to charge homeless people twenty five dollars and then eventually
put them in jail and pay for them in jail,
and not give them any any benefits societal benefits inside
to try and help them, help them and lift them up.
We just say you're for you're broke. H What are
you supposed to do?
Speaker 14 (28:34):
Yes?
Speaker 10 (28:34):
And I think that's what is I hear these callers
call in and you think, well, yeah, but I mean
all of us have a family member who struggles with
mess for a different addiction. I guarantee everyone knows one
like that. And we look down on these one say
there is no help, there is no hope.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Yeah, it's a good point, Bret, and I guess this
kind of goes back to our conversation yesterday about the
people who potentially could be fined for having their car
parked on their lawn now here in Maha. I think
the bigger issue is are there solutions? Are there better
solutions that you can offer to you know, change why
people are doing this in the first place. So, Brad,
(29:10):
what would be a solution that you would suggest that
we could do while we try to clean this problem up.
What could we offer to these people or these individuals,
And would you change your mind if we offered that
to them and they just outright refused that kind of help.
Speaker 10 (29:26):
I think that's fair. I think it's mental health funding.
I mean it really is. And the word could even
be used as far as institutionalizing. But when people have
people have an issue, we look at putting them in
just increctional facilities and we hear all those stories. We
need to seriously have public funding for mental health. I
mean that that is the solution. We need these psychiatric clinics.
We need people to go because right now, actually the
(29:48):
police department, while they are going to start charging unless
people homeless people for loitering, they've actually openly called and
said that individuals within the community should take these people
into shelter. That on our society to maybe pay all
chip in ten dollars more towards mental health funding, which
we've seen the state get rid of and a lot
across the Midwest. It's not a hard path to follow
(30:09):
when we remove mental health institutions and we say hey,
you're struggling, good luck.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Yeah, it's a good point. Brad and I appreciate the
call to day. Thanks for calling in and sharing that
with us today. Yeah. So, if that, my only concern
would be if we offered that. I don't want to
be putting my taxpayer dollars into a program to try
to help people who do not want to help. And
(30:37):
how much would they want to help if they're making
fifty sixty seventy eighty thousand dollars a year doing it
this way?
Speaker 18 (30:43):
Right?
Speaker 1 (30:44):
If we came to them and said, I can find
you a place to live, we can give you a
situation where you can get back into the workforce, would
you take it. We can help you get clean, take
you to rehab. If we put tax dollars into help
our fellow man, certainly I would be interested in that.
But part of that is is like, are you willing
at a certain point to get the help real quick?
(31:05):
I'll take George here, George, sorry about that snafu with
you a little bit earlier. What's on your mind on this?
Speaker 18 (31:11):
No problem, brother, I said, you cannot give these people money.
You can buy them lunch, you can take the McDonald's,
but you do not give them past three times in
my life I've helped people in this way. I had
a guy live in my shed in my backyard, which
is twenty by twelve. I put in there a couple
of years ago. Didn't have no place to go summertime.
A year and a half ago, I said, you can
move into my shed. He'd been sleeping on the river
(31:32):
and city tourist tent down. Okay, get him a job.
He's getting fifty dollars a day. He's working about two
and a half hours and a free tree meal. He
lived there for eighteen months, to which I insulated. I
put an air conditioner in there for the summer. I
put heat in there for the winter. I put cable
TV in there. After eighteen months, he gets comfortable, starts
having obos over, drinking beer. He quits his job. I'm going, like,
(31:55):
what's going on, dude? He goes and he lived there
for eighteen months, rent free. You know he can't I
charge you guy to live in the shed. I had
Health and Human Services department show up at my house,
go you got a guy who lives in your shed.
I'm going, well, that'd be none of your business. And
had a little but finally after he wouldn't take care
of himself. You know, I said, you got to go.
The second time was a guy sitting on the corner
(32:15):
down in the Old Market on a Sunday afternoon asking
for money pobo backpack. I said, look, dude, I'll buy
you lunch. Took him into Billy Frogs, bought him lunch.
He told me a story. I said, here's my card.
I own a trucking company. I said, you can come
there tomorrow clean up. I'll pay you fifteen dollars an
hour cash. I've told this to one hundreds of people
over twenty thirty years. At five o'clock in the morning,
I pull up to the fence. He's sitting on seventy six
(32:37):
and f next to my gate, which tells me he
walked all night to get there from the Old Market.
So he comes in. He works for me for three days,
and his story was he came out of Utah. He
was worked in construction two thousand and eight. The housing
market crash, and he thought he could wait it out
to go back to work, and he ran out of money,
made it to Denver's car broke down, Okay, didn't have
money to fix hiking no more anyhow.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Yeah, George, I'm running out of time. Can we hold
on to the next segment. Canro it? Okay, I'll hold
on to the next segment. Sorry about that already interrupt
I'm just running a long time here. We'll get to
the finish a history, because I think it's important for
this kind of context. George, can you pick up that
second story where you left off for us, and I'm
interested in how it ended up playing out?
Speaker 15 (33:19):
Yeah?
Speaker 10 (33:19):
Brother.
Speaker 18 (33:20):
Anyhow, the kid ended up being from a little town
outside of Chicago. So he's sitting at my gate at
five thirty in the morning. That told me he walked
all the way from downtown to seventy six in f Street.
So I take him in and he give him some
cigarettes he doesn't have any, make coffee, and tell him
he's going to sweep up round the dock, clean up,
stack pallets up. I'll give him fifteen dollars an hour.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Okay.
Speaker 18 (33:39):
He works for me from five o'clock in the morning
till five thirty at night, twelve and a half hours.
I asked if he can work again tomorrow. I said sure,
he goes, could I stay in your parking lot in
one of the empty trailers. I got my sleeping bag
and stuff. I go sure. So he works for me.
The next day I left the door open so he
could use the bathroom in the washroom, and the third
day took him to the truck stop. Sad you're going
to walk, I show all your stuff. I sent two
(34:01):
drivers every night to rock On in Illinois. They meet
Chicago drivers and switch trailers. I said, I talked to
the guy in Chicago. My man's going to take you
to Rock Island tonight. The Chicago driver's going to take
you back in home home to Chicago. So about two
weeks later, I get a letter in the mail. I'm
standing out there. It just says George Irish Express. I
open up the letter. It's from the kid's mom. He goes.
She goes, I don't know who you are, but my
(34:22):
kid come home with five hundred and thirty dollars in
his pocket and told me you got him to five
hundred miles home, gave him a place to sleep and
some work. She goes, I just called say or sent
the letters. Say thank you.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
Wow, it's small things.
Speaker 18 (34:34):
It's not big things.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
Hey, George, really appreciate you giving us some of the
perspective on this story today. Thank you so much for
calling in later. Bro Man It's interesting, right because you
get you know, you talked about the one thing where
he had helped the guy for basically eighteen months, and
he kind of took advantage of him a bit, and
then it's you know, just for a few days and
helped get this guy home. Next thing, you know, he's
(35:00):
you know, probably changed his life for the better in
many ways just those few days that you know, George
was able to help him. Phone lines still open A
four O two five five eight eleven ten. Mark is
on the line now, Mark, do appreciate you for holding
what's on your mind today?
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Hey, I really I like that story that the George
just has talked about. But the sad part is, I
think that is is maybe one percent of the cases
that somebody actually needs help. I think the problem is
is the rest of them, they they don't even want it.
You know, they created this for themselves. But anyway, I digress.
(35:38):
The reason I called as they're trying to figure out
solutions for this, and I sit here and I think
we have all these programs, all these people they get
theirselves into trouble and there they're sentenced community service, right,
so they have to serve it because they got themselves
into trouble. But these guys that they're they're down and
(36:01):
they're out, and they're stuck to standing at the end
of interstates and stuff like this, trying to make a
means to an end. And I'm sure we got a
twenty five dollars fee. But offer them, offer them something,
create a program to to get them into this customer
service or not customer service, but community service program where
(36:24):
the city can can pay them a wage. You know, hey,
you want to do something. You can't get a job
because no one wants to hire you because of what
you've done to yourself and everybody knows how that works.
Your work history sucks, and no one wants to hire you.
But we have this program that you can get into
(36:45):
if you want to better yourself. Get into this, earn
some wages, and we have programs to get you into
something to get you out of the streets and out
of being forced to stay in on this side of
the road.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
Right. And so, Mark, I guess my only angle to this,
because I think most people would agree if we could
establish that, and that is, you know, anybody who's needing help,
there is a program in which you can openly enroll
and you don't have to pay any money to get involved.
If you're really down on your luck, it would take
(37:21):
some tax dollars and take some government money. But what
is the threshold? What about if there are a bunch
of people who are not interested in that help, should
we still be actively enforcing the painhandling rules to make sure.
Speaker 6 (37:39):
Emory?
Speaker 2 (37:40):
I think it comes down to to tough love. I mean,
because if you if you don't, they're just going to continue.
And there is a caller previously that said, oh well,
we just need to provide mental health benefits. Well, what
costs more given the opportunity to better themselves on their
(38:02):
own or just adding to the problem and saying okay, yeah,
come into this mental health institution. And then I mean
what tax dollars wise? What costs more? And we all
know that to to get the medical side involved with
mental health? And then you have what's mental health and
what's not? And next thing you know, you're just dumping
(38:24):
a truckload of money into something that doesn't really solve
a problem. Yeah, tough love sometimes is the best way.
Speaker 10 (38:32):
You force it.
Speaker 1 (38:33):
Yeah, Mark, you appreciate the call today. I thanks so
much for listening to our show.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
Yeah, I think he's on the right track. And you know,
I think everybody has had really good points. I don't
think there is just a universal right answer to this.
This is why it's so fascinating to hear everybody speak,
because everybody kind of comes at it from a different angle.
Tough love is important, I think, and enforcement is important.
But you're also, I think, going to need a solution
otherwise these people are just going to keep doing this.
(38:59):
You're going to chase out of town. Are they all
just gonna go to the Old Market and be begging
down there? I mean, the Sheriff's office isn't gonna be
able to solve that problem. The Sheriff's office is not
gonna go to Old Market and see all the people
that are kind of congregating on busy nights asking people
for money down there. How do you fix that problem?
Is there a way you can fix that problem? I
don't think so. You know, like the Sheriff's office can't
(39:20):
do it. It's got to be an OPD thing. Do
we want the OPD who's down there trying to keep
people safe in the gene Leahy Mall and down by
the riverfront and downtown throughout the evening. Are you gonna
be calling them and saying, officer, officer, we have somebody
who's homeless, person that's holding a sign and begging people
for money.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
No.
Speaker 1 (39:35):
I mean, it's just you're not gonna be able to
clean that up too, you know, on the highways one
thing in town, it's a completely different situation, but the
result typically is the same for these people. Vincent, what
do you think about this?
Speaker 3 (39:48):
Well, I mean I wondered, like the question of that
gentleman who helped that other gentleman out and the good
thing he did for him and all that, and it
is in the last callers like how do you judge?
You know, how do you know they have a sign
it says, you know, if it needs help for God
bless we need. I'm a vet, you know, and you
(40:09):
look at them and you judge them kind of and
you're like, I'd even seen some that have dogs, and
I felt more sorry for the dog in the middle
of the summer, said their patent. I'm like, I wanted
to throw a bottle of water and said here, here's
the water for your dog. But the biggest thing is
is the area around seventy second and Grover between the
off Ram there is a dozen of them there and
(40:32):
not only are they panting on, but they are living there.
They are building their houses right on the edge of
the seventy second on the eastbound, just on like you know,
on the concrete pillar. They're they're shopping carts, they're mattresses, whatever.
But the biggest thing is is they're trash. They have
nowhere to throw their trash, so all their corporate boxes,
(40:53):
all that's just laying around and it's just it's ugly.
And they must have said something because this has been
a couple of months ago and I haven't seen their
houses right on. I mean they were right on the
corner of seventy second Grover where the power boxes were
making carbon boxes houses between the power boxes and stuff,
(41:13):
you know, and and it was down in the area
of UMC and stuff in the hospitals, and it's even
worse down there.
Speaker 10 (41:19):
They're on the.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
Corners and that they had even a picture and mirror
and paintings like hanging from the trees, and I thought, wow,
that's insane.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Yeah, I mean, what are we even doing at that point?
Like they have no respect for what exactly is going
on at that point. That isn't about trying to help
somebody who needs help. That is somebody who's taking advantage
of our system, is what that is.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
Right, And these are people that I'm that they I'm
not sure if you find them, but you at least
got to get them a warning and say look you
can't you got it. But I did notice on the
way in the night they have their little tent house
down in the bottom of the waterway where now you
can see it because the leaves are gone and it's
just trash down there.
Speaker 1 (41:59):
I mean, yeah, yeah, Vincent up, Yeah, I'm with you,
and I think that's a huge problem. That's part of
this as well. I appreciate the call, buddy. I want
to get to Cindy real quick before I run out
of time. Cindy, what's on your mind today?
Speaker 5 (42:11):
Well, I'll tell you. I know that there's a lot
of Catholic schools that are not being used anymore. Yeah,
and they have I mean, they're empty.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
So so are you suggesting that maybe like that that
could be a possible solution for housing.
Speaker 5 (42:30):
Yes, I mean they have bad you know, they have
the classroom, they have the bathrooms, they would have probably
you know, a shower type of thing, right. You know,
I don't know about.
Speaker 3 (42:43):
Food, but a kitchen, you know, I mean.
Speaker 1 (42:46):
It's there's a place for them to say, is what
you're saying.
Speaker 5 (42:49):
They're beautiful buildings, yeah, with lots of room.
Speaker 1 (42:53):
Cindy appreciate it. Thanks for the thought today. Yeah,
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