Beggars, homeless, street drinkers & drug users in Sheffield!

[paula4sheff 10]

If you want to help the homeless, please donate to one of the charities who are actively working to get people off the streets - there are plenty, just Google 'em. Don't give money directly to beggars, of course they will spend it on drugs - if I was living on the street I'd want to be out of it as much as possible. You can't rely on the council to deal with the problem, all of their services have been slashed by Tory cuts.

 

They're not living on the streets - there are only 20 rough sleepers in the entirety of the city.

 

You're right...but I feel endlessly blaming Tory cuts has allowed problems like this to fester. At some point action has to be taken - and money is available for other things of course, such as taking tree protesters and fellow council members to court.....

 

I'm no Tory fan, but for how long can the "Tory austerity" line be reeled out to explain away every problem encountered?

[wildnorthlands 10]

For as long as it continues I suppose. If you cast your mind back to the last Labour administration the homeless and street drinking problems had pretty much disappeared. That's because there were programmes in place to deal with it. Osborne slashed all those and this is the the result. Which is not to say their policies were perfect - Google "new labour approach to homelessness" and judge for yourself whether they were winning the battle. The action against the tree protesters relates to the PFI contract that the council got itself locked into - not the council's finest hour but a different issue.

[fill 10]

Sheffield Online has a picture to illustrate what we are talking about. If people don't think it's that bad look at this.

 

i doubt very much that these people were asked for their permission to be photographed or if they gave their consent for the photograph in question to be made viewable by anyone.

 

but i guess that is the sort of thing you can expect on from some of the people that use sites like facebook

 

that said i thought this thread was about the homeless, real or fake, and begging on the street.

 

---------- Post added 08-08-2018 at 03:58 ----------

 

Steps have been taken to publicize the issue via campaigns encouraging people not to give money - these were unsuccessful as people refused to accept the advice of experts and believed they knew better.

 

The most obvious thing to do therefore, in my view, would be to make giving to beggars an offence. Begging is an offence, so why not make giving to them one too? This could possibly work in conjunction with a central point in the city centre where people could give money to charities working in the drink/drug addiction sector.

 

The message that giving to beggars is part of the problem and not the solution HAS to get through, one way or the other.

 

better yet why not just round them up and put them in camps surrounded with barbed wire fences outside the city where no-one can see them

your compassion for the less fortunate completely underwhelms me.

the attitude you appear to be advocating is on a par with those other people who in their ignorance assume that all the homeless that live on the streets are addicted to something other than food and water

[redruby 279]

i doubt very much that these people were asked for their permission to be photographed or if they gave their consent for the photograph in question to be made viewable by anyone.

 

but i guess that is the sort of thing you can expect on from some of the people that use sites like facebook

 

that said i thought this thread was about the homeless, real or fake, and begging on the street.

 

---------- Post added 08-08-2018 at 03:58 ----------

 

 

better yet why not just round them up and put them in camps surrounded with barbed wire fences outside the city where no-one can see them

your compassion for the less fortunate completely underwhelms me.

the attitude you appear to be advocating is on a par with those other people who in their ignorance assume that all the homeless that live on the streets are addicted to something other than food and water

 

What do you think is the best way of helping people who beg on the streets? Bare in mind that people who beg for money are not necessarily homeless (and assuming the statistics on this are correct, very probably are not).

Will handing out a couple of quid to beggars randomly genuinely help them?

Will doing this on a regular basis help people in this sorry situation in the long term? Will it encourage the non-homeless with addiction problems to start begging? Would it be better if we paid a little more to fund projects to help people get off the streets than handing out a quid here and there to a person living a chaotic lifestyle?

[woodmally 10]

i doubt very much that these people were asked for their permission to be photographed or if they gave their consent for the photograph in question to be made viewable by anyone.

 

but i guess that is the sort of thing you can expect on from some of the people that use sites like facebook

 

that said i thought this thread was about the homeless, real or fake, and begging on the street.

 

---------- Post added 08-08-2018 at 03:58 ----------

 

 

better yet why not just round them up and put them in camps surrounded with barbed wire fences outside the city where no-one can see them

your compassion for the less fortunate completely underwhelms me.

the attitude you appear to be advocating is on a par with those other people who in their ignorance assume that all the homeless that live on the streets are addicted to something other than food and water

 

1) No they didnt give their permission,well I agree it was unlikely. However it was very necessary to show this picture to tell the powers that be how bad its got in the city centre. That image is now the norm.

 

2) Yes this thread is about begging and how do you think these people got the money for the spice in the first place yep you've guessed it begging. So begging is actually enabling this behavior.

 

3) Also Paula4sheff is not saying round them up. Its not lack of compassion just a lot of us are very fed up with the spice addicts and beggars who refuse help. Beg even though they have a home and are strewn across the pavement in a catatonic state. Yes I am not exaggerating as I stated above that picture on Sheffield online is the norm. If you want other photographs to illustrate the point go to the Sheffield Star Facebook article on the subject or maybe go to town near Cathedral, McDonalds or outside the Heart Foundation Shop.

Edited August 8, 2018 by woodmally

[GinTreeS7 18]

If they are being housed, then relocating them to an area outside the city centre would not in my opinion be a bad thing... away from normal law abidinig people who are not into drugs and crime etc.

 

There seems to be a lot of them around West St , Division St, Devonshire Green area - is this consistent with some of them being housed nearby?

 

I cannot now walk down any of these main areas in the city centre of an evening without being accosted by them ... so I simply dont go there.

 

It must be lowering trade for a whole ton of struggling businesses in the city centre at the moment all because of a minority that are a nuisance and worse - let alone what picture it must be presenting to people outside sheffield considering visiting, studying or working in this city ....

 

The "Do gooders" have ended up doing grave harm to Sheffield ...

[paula4sheff 10]

1) No they didnt give their permission,well I agree it was unlikely. However it was very necessary to show this picture to tell the powers that be how bad its got in the city centre. That image is now the norm.

 

2) Yes this thread is about begging and how do you think these people got the money for the spice in the first place yep you've guessed it begging. So begging is actually enabling this behavior.

 

3) Also Paula4sheff is not saying round them up. Its not lack of compassion just a lot of us are very fed up with the spice addicts and beggars who refuse help. Beg even though they have a home and are strewn across the pavement in a catatonic state. Yes I am not exaggerating as I stated above that picture on Sheffield online is the norm. If you want other photographs to illustrate the point go to the Sheffield Star Facebook article on the subject or maybe go to town near Cathedral, McDonalds or outside the Heart Foundation Shop.

 

If faces are not shown, any newspaper can print pictures. Permission does not have to be asked.

 

I'd say lack of compassion is continuing to give out money that contributes to this problem and lines drug dealers pockets. People have compassion, but they are also fed up of this escalating drug problem - fueled by those who tell others they have no 'compassion'.

 

These people won't seek help, support or even acknowledge a problem if they have ready access to money that keeps the drugs flowing. it's a conversation I encountered a lot; "I'm not doing any harm, people give me money, it's up to me how I spend it". That's the argument.

 

Compassion WILL be lost though as the problem continues to drive the centre down. Find any article about the issue online and there are numerous comments from people saying "I don't bother going into the centre anymore because of this" - that's unacceptable for those who have businesses relying on footfall.

 

It's not about "rounding them up" and keeping them out of sight - it's about sorting the problem out. Arrest the dealers, make giving to beggars illegal, and prosecute those who continually refuse help and refuse support.

[chakademus 10]

Just the five requests for money today!

 

Got asked for "£2 for a room for the night"- then saw a woman kindly try to explain what this individual could do if he's rough sleeping. She got a load of abuse, and other passers by became involved.

 

I think the city has probably had enough of it now- sympathy is at rock bottom. And that's thr sad thing- I now refuse to even acknowledge requests for monwy as I don't want to engage and get abuse, which ends up making you feel like you're becomin something you don't want to be- i.e. the sort of peraon that doesn't even look at someone as they speak to you.

 

Hopefully though, as people become more and more jaded and frustrated by the state of the city centre they will stop giving and things may change.....

 

You're all heart. You sound like a cold & callous individual & that's not in the spirit of sheffield.

[The Joker 10]

The "Do gooders" have ended up doing grave harm to Sheffield ...

 

How is this the fault of the “Do gooders” please

[Eccy Beach 11]

At the risk if being seen as a police apologist I though the Chief Constable's comments in The Star article were fair - acknowledged how problem made people feel whilst explaining some of the challenges officers face in terms of dealing with it.

 

Paula asks when will austerity stop being used as an excuse, errr probably when we invest in public services to deal with social issues.

 

Portugal is probably the best example of a country rejecting austerity and seeing an instant increase in economic growth, as well as having an evidence informed approach to tackling drugs, rather than our daily mail, frothing at the mouth response.

 

Someone else mentioned these problems not being so bad under previous gov'ts. I worked with the City Centre Police team from 2009-2013, which during that time had 12 PCs and 16 PCSOs covering the inner ring road area (on top of the response teams covering west Sheffield). I don't know how many work in city centre now but I bet it's not that many.

[paula4sheff 10]

You're all heart. You sound like a cold & callous individual & that's not in the spirit of sheffield.

 

Is the spirit of Sheffield to dish out money to drug dealers, and encourage the problem then?

 

What would you suggest people do? Keep giving people drugs?!

 

---------- Post added 08-08-2018 at 12:04 ----------

 

At the risk if being seen as a police apologist I though the Chief Constable's comments in The Star article were fair - acknowledged how problem made people feel whilst explaining some of the challenges officers face in terms of dealing with it.

 

Paula asks when will austerity stop being used as an excuse, errr probably when we invest in public services to deal with social issues.

 

Portugal is probably the best example of a country rejecting austerity and seeing an instant increase in economic growth, as well as having an evidence informed approach to tackling drugs, rather than our daily mail, frothing at the mouth response.

 

Someone else mentioned these problems not being so bad under previous gov'ts. I worked with the City Centre Police team from 2009-2013, which during that time had 12 PCs and 16 PCSOs covering the inner ring road area (on top of the response teams covering west Sheffield). I don't know how many work in city centre now but I bet it's not that many.

 

Fair point - austerity is totally part of the problem, as everyone should know.

 

I think the shrugging shoulders and saying "ah, it's austerity, nothing we can do" to every problem though is an issue. I think it's often used rather conveniently, when needed. But it would be ludicrous of course to suggest that it wasn't an issue.

[Eccy Beach 11]

Is the spirit of Sheffield to dish out money to drug dealers, and encourage the problem then?

 

What would you suggest people do? Keep giving people drugs?!

 

---------- Post added 08-08-2018 at 12:04 ----------

 

 

Fair point - austerity is totally part of the problem, as everyone should know.

 

I think the shrugging shoulders and saying "ah, it's austerity, nothing we can do" to every problem though is an issue. I think it's often used rather conveniently, when needed. But it would be ludicrous of course to suggest that it wasn't an issue.

 

I'd agree that there may be other factors and it's not OK to shrug shoulders, we need public services to be thinking creatively and getting most out of what we have but it does feel like a tipping point has been passed - West Midlands CC pretty much admitted that last week.