At a Crossroads

6 citations issued under ordinance at panhandling protest

By Jacob Marrocco
Posted 3/29/17

By JACOB MARROCCO Approximately 40 demonstrators protested at the intersection of New London Avenue and Sockanosset Cross Road Monday evening to challenge the city's Solicitation on Roadways Prohibited" ordinance. The protest was orchestrated by the"

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

At a Crossroads

6 citations issued under ordinance at panhandling protest

Posted

Approximately 40 demonstrators protested at the intersection of New London Avenue and Sockanosset Cross Road Monday evening to challenge the city’s “Solicitation on Roadways Prohibited” ordinance.

The protest was orchestrated by the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project, and participants came from several parts of the state.

The ordinance, which was passed by a 5-4 vote in mid-February at a special City Council meeting, is tailored to prevent the exchanges in the traffic lane at 21 different intersections. The penalty is an $85 fine.

“No person shall stand in or enter upon a roadway for the purpose of distributing anything to the occupant of any vehicle or for the purpose of receiving anything from the occupant of any vehicle,” reads the amended ordinance.

However, the ordinance does include that distribution or exchange is “permissible to an occupant of a non-moving vehicle on the roadway adjacent to the sidewalk and if the person doing so is on the adjacent sidewalk.”

The protest did increase traffic at the usually congested intersection, at one point forcing an ambulance to travel the wrong way against traffic to reach its destination. According to the ordinance, that intersection is listed as one of the 21 intersections since it experienced the third-highest volume of collisions/accidents in 2016 with 31.

According to Police Chief Col. Michael Winquist, six municipal tickets were issued under that ordinance on Monday. For reference, Director of Administration Rob Coupe said at Monday’s Council meeting that four such citations were given out in total prior to Monday’s demonstration.

Anyone who received one of those tickets may contest it at a hearing on June 6. No arrests were made.

“I stand by the road safety ordinance and am confident the Cranston Police Department will properly enforce the law on our roadways,” Mayor Allan W. Fung said in a statement to the Herald. “This ordinance is about public safety and making sure nobody gets hurt or involved in an accident in one of our busy intersections.”

About halfway through the demonstration, which went from 4 to 6 p.m., police presence was increased at nearly every corner and median strips.

Barbara Freitas, director of the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project that coordinated the demonstration, disagreed with public safety being the heart of the issue. She spoke with the Herald just after receiving her citation.

“We shouldn't be criminalizing homelessness,” Freitas, who called her citation a “golden ticket,” said. “People do this for a reason. It’s not because they’re having fun. They do this to survive, so this is a matter of survival for a lot of people.

“I think Fung has really dropped the ball, he’s really wrong at this whole thing,” she added.

Brittney Hunter, a Rhode Island College junior protesting from House of Hope, said she understands the public safety concern but doesn't see its merits.

“Their argument is public safety, which obviously is a huge concern for us a well, [but] research shows there is no hazard for people standing on the median,” Hunter said. “Obviously, there is a hazard when they are belligerent and doing the wrong thing, but again that’s a small portion of people. That doesn’t define everyone. [The police] blocking off traffic is more of a safety hazard than anything, but they’re just doing their jobs.”

Hunter and her friend, fellow junior Isabella Romeo, said the reaction they got was mostly positive. A few smatterings of “Get a job!” were interspersed with thumbs up or honks of support.

“We’re protesting it mainly because the homeless are such a marginalized population,” Hunter said. “ A lot of people aren’t on the side of the homeless because a lot of people think they do it to themselves. There are lots of things in this world that happen to everybody. It’s not fair that if somebody can’t find a job, they can’t just stand on the side of the road if they want to.”

Council Vice President Michael Favicchio drove through the protest, as he lives in the Glen Woods area, and he witnessed the rescue vehicle driving the wrong way. Favicchio, who voted in favor of the ordinance, said that just “speaks to the problem.”

“The safety is so important,” Favicchio said after Monday’s meeting. “If someone steps in the road and causes an accident, gets in the way of a rescue vehicle, we’re going to have a problem. I’d hate to think that someone didn’t get treated in time for a heart attack because the rescue vehicle was stuck in that intersection. I can’t imagine why people want to put people in the middle of a four- or six-lane highway.”

Ward 1 Councilman Steven Stycos, who voted against the ordinance, is still opposed. He believes that, while nothing has been adjudicated yet, it is only a “matter of time” before it is declared unconstitutional.

“The ACLU said that they would sue if we passed the ordinance, and the old ordinance was thrown out because of an ACLU suit,” Stycos said. “It was settled, but thrown out.”

Winquist noted that 13 people were cited in total on Monday. There were nine state traffic citations given out in violation of “Pedestrian on Freeways Prohibited.” Those hearings will take place on May 10.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here