Panhandlers in the Battlefords are a growing concern
When a panhandler asks you for money, it may not be going to food and you might be indirectly funding criminal activity.
Herb Sutton, community safety coordinator for the City of North Battleford, brought this point up at council on Monday, March 28.
There is a group of panhandlers who hang outside the liquor store and along 101 street. Many have given these people money, thinking it is going towards food but that might not always be the case.
According to Sutton, there are six individuals in this group of panhandlers who have accounted for 21 per cent of the crime downtown over the last two and a half years. They get the majority of their money from begging.