St. Petersburg police found mostly empty intersections today when they started enforcing a new ban on solicitation on city streets.
By mid-afternoon, officers issued four warnings about the ordinance, St. Petersburg police Lt. Cleven Wyatt said.
The ban bars those soliciting money for charities, panhandlers and newspaper vendors who hawk Sunday editions at busy intersections.
Officers were told to first give a warning to violators. A second violation would result in a citation and on the third, the officer has the option to arrest the person, Wyatt said.
Notably absent were newspaper vendors, Police Lt. Greg Schwemley said this morning. Busy intersections normally stacked with copies of the paper and vendors were empty. Continue reading here.
