GLOUCESTER SHOPPERS URGED NOT TO KILL WITH KINDNESS IN NEW CAMPAIGN
January 5 2006
Gloucester shoppers are being urged not to ‘Kill with Kindness’ in a new campaign by police, Gloucester Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership and city welfare agencies.
The poster campaign being launched today aims to discourage people from giving to beggars on the streets of the city centre and to support the local and national charities which help them instead.
The initiative forms part of a continued crackdown on aggressive and persistent beggars by city centre police and the CDRP.
The distinctive posters, which will be distributed by police officers and city rangers during the next few weeks, read: "Don’t Kill With Kindness. Don’t Give to People Begging on the Street: You Could be Killing With Kindness. Why? Because Your Money Can Go to Buy Drugs or Alcohol. Please Don’t Give to Beggars, Give to Charity."
Encouraging residents and visitors to heed the message, Inspector Steve Gillett of the Gloucester City Centre Inspector Neighbourhood Area said: "The vast majority of people who beg have some sort of dependency and although it is good to give, giving money directly to beggars on the street is, indeed, killing through kindness. Your money won’t go towards a hostel bed or a hot meal but fund drug and alcohol misuse. This will encourage beggars to stay on the streets where they are vulnerable and entice more people onto the city streets to ask for money.
"Police officers will continue to take a proactive and robust stance in relation to this problem but it’s important to realise that research proves that police enforcement alone will not eradicate begging from the city’s streets. If you want to help and do something to change lives for the better therefore, give to the reputable local and national charities who can provide real help to these people."
Major Paul Doust of the Salvation Army in Gloucester agreed. "We’re concerned that invariably when members of the public give money thinking they’re helping someone, it’s being used for an addiction rather than for food or a hot drink," he said. "Organisations like this however are trying to alleviate people’s situation. We provide an open door, a cup of tea or a meal."
The campaign has been funded by the Gloucester CDRP in consultation with partners including Gloucester City Centre Police, the Gloucester branch of the Salvation Army, The Citizen newspaper, The Vaughan Centre, Gloucestershire Drugs and Alcohol Service, Gloucestershire Emergency Accommodation Resource, the Seventh- Day Adventist Church, Gloucester Food Bank and Gloucester City Mission.
Under The Vagrancy Act it is an offence to be in a public place to beg and those doing so are liable to arrest.
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