Increased begging

[Anonymous]

I live in Fairfax County. In the last few weeks there’s been a dramatic increase in beggars at intersections. They have a sign explaining their situation blah blah. Women, men, all races. Many places are looking for workers. I don’t understand. There are lots of jobs available. If I wasn’t always in a rush or if it was safe (I’d hold up traffic by just stopping) I’d ask them for their story, just “what happened?” Discuss.

[Anonymous]

Most of the people I see around look like they have substance abuse or mental health issues. Because of that I dont think they are in a position to reliably hold down a job. Its also hard to work, make ends meet if you have no home and have to stand up all the things to have a more stable life (place to live, car, clothes and household items).

[Anonymous]

It’s almost impossible to hold down work if homeless. Beyond hygiene, there are issues with curfews for shelters so you can’t work a late shift ever. When I worked at FedEx, there was a guy who had his uniform stolen twice at the shelter. At that time, they gave us three shirts and two pairs of pants. You could buy more, but that was all you got unless you got pregnant or switched jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of the people I see around look like they have substance abuse or mental health issues. Because of that I dont think they are in a position to reliably hold down a job. Its also hard to work, make ends meet if you have no home and have to stand up all the things to have a more stable life (place to live, car, clothes and household items).

This, I live in Austin and our mayor removed the public camping ban a few years ago. Since then, our homeless population has boomed and increases in crime have come right along with it. Its a tough situation to solve. The city is trying to find a way to help house people but the base of the problem is mental health and substance abuse issues that the homeless folks don’t want solved.

[Anonymous]

Most of the beggars I see — especially at times intersection medians, store parking slots, etc. — seem to be part of a larger network. I can no longer count on my fingers the times I see “mom” and kids, or “vet” picked up by some well-healed person in a Mercedes Benz or luxury sedan. It’s ugly.

I have seen an uptick in adult drug use at our local parks. Last week they burned a starter log in the local baseball dugout. There’s a group also camping out at the local McD’s which seems fine with it. What I don’t understand is the permissiveness given that these users and dealers are acting openly on property directly adjacent to schools.

[Anonymous]

It’s a business like any other, why would they work? They are mostly “Roma travelers” or whatever the PC name is now. They come with those seeking asylum (they blend in well).
There is a whole underground network with its own mostly cash economy and jobs like panhandling and petty crime.
Nothing is done about it because no serious laws are broken and the notion of quality of life for tax paying citizens is no longer a thing. Just like with mentally ill unhoused and petty criminals from pockets of generational poverty, there is no place to hide unless you are in the burbs with no public transportation and/or restricted access.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of the beggars I see — especially at times intersection medians, store parking slots, etc. — seem to be part of a larger network. I can no longer count on my fingers the times I see “mom” and kids, or “vet” picked up by some well-healed person in a Mercedes Benz or luxury sedan. It’s ugly.

I have seen an uptick in adult drug use at our local parks. Last week they burned a starter log in the local baseball dugout. There’s a group also camping out at the local McD’s which seems fine with it. What I don’t understand is the permissiveness given that these users and dealers are acting openly on property directly adjacent to schools.

THIS!

[Anonymous]

I’m tired of being startled by a beggar while loading groceries or being approached inside stores by someone actively panhandling.

It’s happened at Pan Am Safeway, Oakton Giant, Vienna Giant, North Shore Reston CVS, TJ Maxx by Fair Oaks.

I used to carry a social services brochure to hand out. Have since run out.

It’s a scam. All of them are scammers. I see the same duo working across median strip at Nutley and 29. The fat young female with sandy blond hair works with the bearded skinny guy in army fatigues. The AA guy with the limp is always at 50 and Jermantown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the beggars I see — especially at times intersection medians, store parking slots, etc. — seem to be part of a larger network. I can no longer count on my fingers the times I see “mom” and kids, or “vet” picked up by some well-healed person in a Mercedes Benz or luxury sedan. It’s ugly.

I have seen an uptick in adult drug use at our local parks. Last week they burned a starter log in the local baseball dugout. There’s a group also camping out at the local McD’s which seems fine with it. What I don’t understand is the permissiveness given that these users and dealers are acting openly on property directly adjacent to schools.

THIS!

Some of these people are showing up in front of churches too. They are tricky though. A couple I happened to see at the off ramp in Falls Church also showed up in front of a church in Sterling. I guess they were counting on some anonymity to make it look like they were not part of the usuals seen in the Sterling/Herndon area. Not sure if they are hitting other places of worship (mosques, temples, etc).

[Anonymous]

I my area I see them dropped off and everyone has a backpack. It seems very organized. They all wear nice shoes and seem capable of working. I ignore.

[Anonymous]

108 and Ga Avenue is now a begging hot spot. They seem organized too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m tired of being startled by a beggar while loading groceries or being approached inside stores by someone actively panhandling.

It’s happened at Pan Am Safeway, Oakton Giant, Vienna Giant, North Shore Reston CVS, TJ Maxx by Fair Oaks.

I used to carry a social services brochure to hand out. Have since run out.

It’s a scam. All of them are scammers. I see the same duo working across median strip at Nutley and 29. The fat young female with sandy blond hair works with the bearded skinny guy in army fatigues. The AA guy with the limp is always at 50 and Jermantown.

Yes, same in the District. I was approached in the parking lot underneath my Giant by a woman with a baby in a stroller, and gave her a couple of dollars. Then, a man appeared from between the cars and she handed him the money. It was really startling and uncomfortable to see them working the garage, and I wondered about trafficking. There has definitely been an uptick in this kind of thing.

[Anonymous]

I’m not in that area but I called my mayors office when they started trotting out babies too. That shit will not fly on my watch!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Fairfax County. In the last few weeks there’s been a dramatic increase in beggars at intersections. They have a sign explaining their situation blah blah. Women, men, all races. Many places are looking for workers. I don’t understand. There are lots of jobs available. If I wasn’t always in a rush or if it was safe (I’d hold up traffic by just stopping) I’d ask them for their story, just “what happened?” Discuss.

They'll have a canned response or tell you off. These are professional beggars. They're not interested in finding work.

[Anonymous]

Do you guys have the fake violinists? A guy standing alone and playing lovely classical music. However, there's a little speaker hidden playing music, and he's not really playing at all.