GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Six months after the city of Grand Rapids introduced two ordinances in response to the homeless population, city officials say they haven’t cited a single individual for accosting behavior since then.
The accosting ordinance aimed to limit behavior like panhandling and loitering in specific areas, like those nearby ATMs, outdoor dining and bus stops. If a person is asked by police to stop and continues anyway, they could face a misdemeanor.
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“We have not issued any citations under that ordinance as we talked about with our city commission,” Deputy City Manager Kate Berens said. “We intended that to be mostly education and hopefully voluntary enforcement.”
The other ordinance limited the amount of personal items a person could have in a public space or right of way.
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“It’s not unlawful for somebody to have personal property in public spaces,” Berens said. “It’s really when it gets to more than, it’s 32 gallons technically, which is sort of a garbage bag size, more than something that you can reasonably carry.”