On a cold, windy Dallas night, a woman named Sherry stood at the side of the road at Lemmon Avenue and U.S. Highway 75. Her sign read "homeless and hungry."
"It puts shelter over my head when I need shelter," Sherry explained about panhandling. "I mean, at least we're not out robbing or stealing or causing bigger crimes, right?"
In Dallas, panhandling is a crime. Last year police cited or arrested 978 people for panhandling. Most of those complaints come into the 311 call center.
Last year dispatchers received 510 calls for service for panhandling. Already this year the number is 277.
The city of Dallas recently added panhandling to the 311 smart phone application.
"We are focused on panhandling and homelessness," said 311 configuration manager Sheila Gray. "So we want to have more options for citizens to report the concerns and issues they're seeing to the city."
"There's a lot more to it than what people see," Sherry said. "We're human, just like everybody else.
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Sherry said it's not just about the money.
"Maybe sometimes all we need is a kind remark from somebody, you know?" she said.
