Is the recent clampdown on homeless people really related to crime prevention?
By Darren Guy and Tim Hughes In May 2002, the local authorities attempted to ban Bernard James McCartney – a homeless man – from Liverpool City Centre, for alleged aggressive begging. The inference was that begging was an affront to ordinary people going about their business. His defence was that, he had no regular income of any kind, so was left with no alternative but to beg. This arrest came alongside the persistent arrest and fingerprinting of hundreds of homeless people and the banning of Big Issue sellers from Clayton Square. During this same period there was a number of city centre billboards trying to discourage people giving money to people begging offering dubious advice such as “Fact: Nobody needs to beg for a bed” and “Help them make the change, keep your change”. Critics of this ‘campaign’ suggested that the local council, business leaders, Merseyside Police and private security firms were working together under the banner of ‘Crime Alert’ and ‘City Safe partnership’ and w
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