Body of panhandler found behind Kmart
Authorities do not suspect foul play
The body of a well-known panhandler was found behind a busy Auburn shopping center Tuesday. Auburn resident Patricia Bissing was the first to discover and report seeing the man lying on the ground behind the Kmart, located in a business complex off Bell Road and Highway 49 in Auburn. Bissing said she was one her way to drop off clothes to a nearby Goodwill at about 3 p.m. when she rounded the corner and saw the man. She said she continued driving until she found two Kmart employees and asked them to check the scene because it looked suspicious. “I was a little upset, but I was still pretty calm,” Bissing said. “I just wanted them to go find out what it was and take care of it.” Authorities arrived shortly after the Kmart employees called 911. They found the man lying partly under a shrub with a homeless sign, a pocket of loose change and a bottle of Canadian Whiskey, according to Kevin Jackson, coroner investigator with the Placer County Sheriff’s Office. Jackson said the man is a well-known panhandler in the area. The initial investigation does not indicate foul play. “It appears natural,” Jackson said. The man, whose identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, was taken to the Placer County morgue where his body will undergo a forensic autopsy.
Pandhandling in Auburn The Journal recently reported that the Auburn Police Department is planning to present a panhandling ordinance to the Auburn City Council later this month. The ordinance would allow officers to cite panhandlers. Auburn Police Chief Valerie Harris said calls regarding panhandlers are a demand on the office’s service. Josh Curly, who was interviewed while asking for money near the Auburn Town Center, said he would be happy to work if someone offered him a job. “It’s tough right now in this economy when businesses are closing down,” Curly said in a prior Journal report. “It makes it even harder to find work.” The Journal's Jenifer Gee can be reached at jeniferg@goldcountrymedia.com or post a comment.
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The next time someone feels like giveing a bum money, think about what the bum is going to do with the money. Most likely this person died of an alcohol related problem. Do them and us a favor and give to a church.
The cause of this man's death is not determined as yet, but what a tragedy for everyone involved. Recall that the area where this man was found is not within the City of Auburn, so Auburn's prospective anti-panhandling ordinance will not apply.
I agree with Bronzz. No ordinance can take the place of everyone's personal responsibility and duty to these poor unfortunate individuals, not to enable them by handing them cash. Please stop hurting these people by giving them cash, give money to your church instead and they will use it to do good works.
Maybe what's needed is a county-wide ordinance making it illegal to give money (or alcoholic beverages) to panhandlers. But the real solution is to institutionalize these folks so that they can be given food, shelter, medical treatment, and job skills training. If they refuse to get better, they'd be allowed or even required to live in the institutions indefinitely. How many days of war in Iraq and Afghanistan would it take to pay for building and maintaining regional no-option shelters across the U.S?
I think requiring people to live in institutions against thier will is called imprisonment.
so dumping alcohol releases hydrocarbons, doesnt that mean the officers act of dumping that booze on the ground makes him guilty of violating federal air quality laws?
Why go to all the trouble to cite a panhandler?????
Why would he pay the fine????
Would He even have the money to pay the fine????
This is not the solution....this is just another waste of tax money......typical of AUBURN
..."whatever you do for the least of them, you do for me" ...Jesus Christ
Another thing...this person may have panhandled, may have had a horrible alcohol problem, but it is demeaning to his dignity as a human being to be labeled a "pan-handler." Could you not have referred to him another way and then included that he was often seen panhandling? Perhaps he found life too unbearable to handle it sober...we never know what brings a person to such a state in life and until we walk in their shoes, referring to them as bums, panhandlers makes us less, not them...
Perhaps if we stopped, had a conversation with a person like this and showed them that we found them worthy of any caring, it might give them the reason to try and live...
He went out with money in his pocket and a bottle of whiskey (pricey canadian whiskey)..perhaps that is what he wanted...RIP...
Many moons ago I gave money to a 'panhandler' and then an hour later went to the store and saw the same man walking across the Bel Air parking lot with a big case of beer. I decided then and there to not give money but to give resources. I copied the number for homeless shelters (Gathering Inn) and the food closets and Placer County ACCESS - keep them in my car and when ever I can I give them that. OR when driving thru Mickey D's if they are out there I buy an extra $1 hamburger and $1 fry and give them that. As my daughter always says "you never know when they are an angel in disquise".
I find this very sad. We are not hear to judge others but to help if we can. I don't think anybody no matter what their life is like wants to die alone, behind a store in a shrub. I am a softy when it comes to helping people but also conflicted what they do with the help you may give them. I don't think this should be about this man being a panhandler but rather that he was a human being that passed. Again I find this very sad. :(
This is very sad. Given the choice between giving money to someone on the street asking for it, and giving it to a church, I will choose helping the person. If a person is obviously going to continue his drunk, that is one thing; otherwise it is not my position to tell them what to do with the money. It is enough for me to know that they have an unmet need, but nobody tells me what my needs are, and I afford anyone I would help the same respect. I agree with jayber and auburnite regarding imprisonment and perhaps choosing how to live and die.
If I were hungry, I would not want someone offering me Jesus, and instead of local door-to-door religious sales (pure rudeness!) and missionary work, those who claim any sort of goodness ought to concern themselves with unmet human needs.
Also, what's the difference between someone standing on a corner flipping a sign and dancing around for a business, and someone holding a sign soliciting for money? If one is "work", so is the other. If you don't approve of the work, don't give.
MmeYana, This is very sad; however, if you give money to these individuals, you become an “Enabler.” Most of them are not experiencing a normal state of mind. Most of them need help. Try going to the Food Closet or down town Sacramento on the second Saturday of every month. A variety of Christian Churches meet every month to provide food, clothing and other services to the homeless. One Christian Church even has a bike repair shop set up for them to repair their bicycles. I strongly recommend to everyone to try it. My family goes down once a month to help. Since they closed “Tent City,” many of these people in need are scrambling for a new place to exist.
Localgirl1976 put it very nicely. Do we know the mans name
since he was well-known?
Patrick50, it depends on what it is I'm enabling. I would hope I'm enabling the person to get through the day, since human needs continue throughout life, and whatever I can give can't really be very helpful. It's survival until later, and with money and free choice, the person can get something according to their own tastes. A full stomach and coffee makes me very grateful, until I need some more. So far, so good; I have enough for the forseeable future.
I'm glad there are food closets and the Salvation Army, which really is helpful to people in need in our community.
It is always a moment of sadness when someone passes away. The real underlying issue is further down in the story though. It is a crying shame that Chief Valerie Harris of the Auburn Police Department is so unfamiliar with the 1st amendment of the United States Constituion that she thinks that she can have a law passed to ban panhandling. It's a basic tenet of the Constitution that free speach is afforded to every citizen in this nation. Holding up a 'please help' sign is covered under that. And I'm pretty sure that contrary to what Harris thinks, she does not have the authority to tell people who they can and can't give their money too. Perhaps she would be better to use her time studying the basic laws that this country was built upon instead of posturing in the paper on an issue she can't control. What would really help the transient panhandler issue is providing more services to assist them. Of course we all know that in a time of economic crisis no one is going to agree to the extra taxes it would take to fund such a lofty idea.
citizenkane, you're wrong, anti-panhandling ordinances work in other cities. The key is to craft them along the lines of cities that have been challenged by the ACLU under 1st Amendment arguments, in order to meet constitutional requirements. You have no credence in attacking Auburn's police chief when this tragic loss of a man's life occurred outside the city limits-- Chief Harris has no jurisdiction in the Bell/49 area, her job is to protect Auburn and I commend her effort here. In Roseburg Oregon it's illegal to hand money from a vehicle to panhandlers, seems to pass muster there so let's enact that law here..
MmeYana, here's what you're enabling: closing local tourist-dependent businesses as customers refuse to stop or shop in towns where they're accosted by panhandlers, leading to business owners' bankruptcy and residents' loss of tax revenue; costs of police enforcement when drug addicts and inebriates burglarize homes and businesses and commit other crimes; medical costs associated with bums' drug dependency and multiple medical problems, despite that they likely are not or were never Auburn residents, leading to less health care for residents; financial gain by drug dealers and alcohol purveyors; increased manufacture of methamphetamine locally, endangering children and young people exposed to the drug because it's readily available; this is only a partial list of negative aspects enabled by your handing money to panhandlers. Please stop.
why don't they take a vote. I have no problem with the pan handlers in Auburn. Ya it sucks to see the young kids doing it, but some of the older men don't have the clothing, housing, or mental stability to even earn job skills. If they buy booze with their money then so be it. That's what helps them pass the time in their day. When you have no family, sometimes that's the way people want to live. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. I'm sure they made this choice in life LONG AGO...just like those young kids you see panhandling now days. Everyone's story is different. After all, I thought this was a free country.
MmeYana: well said!
Its so sad when the very first comment is dont give a BUM money. This BUM is also someones SON, maybe he's a FATHER, a HUSBAND. All I know is I am no better than anyone else and if drinking is the only way they get throught their day, I won't judge them. There is a particular man who I see around town and I always give him the common courtesy of a smile and wave. They are human beings like you and I. We are all a paycheck away from being in their shoes, whatever reason they are there. To whoever this mans family is my condolences.
Actually, laughwithu, you don't know what I have enabled. But you woke me up with the words, "Please stop" - as though you can inflict your values on me. You may have noted that I had said, "If you don't approve of the work, don't give". I say this because I recognize that others can make their own choices based on their values. If I don't like what I see or feel when encountering someone on the street soliciting donations, I don't give.
I wouldn't like to be accosted by panhandlers, and haven't had that happen. I wouldn't encourage such a thing by rewarding it, and I do not knowingly support criminal behavior. Of course it could happen, either by giving money to someone on the street, or patronizing an establishment that employs criminals.
There couldn't be less health care for some residents than NONE. Hooray that at least some people who qualify by having nothing can get health care.
juliette15 - I hear you there.
The most unusual request I had was when I was coming out of a restaurant after I'd eaten there, with my leftovers in a to-go box. One girl out of a bunch on Crack Corner asked me for my food. I was glad to give it, but it was a real reminder that there are hungry people right here.
STOP.!!!
The last few comments by auburn27, juliette15, and MmeYana should be enough to make Auburn's Council realize how imperative it is to enact an ordinance making it illegal to give money or alcohol to panhandlers. This should be enacted in addition to a separate anti-panhandling ordinance.
I agree this is very sad.
And I agree with what Josh Curly said in the article. I am also out of work and looking for a job and nobody is hiring. If I got offered a job I would take it in a heartbeat.
Oh and if the guy was so well known in Auburn why wasnt his name in the article...
When I see a homeless person I usually give them pennys or nickels, or 1 dollar food from Micky D's.
laughwithu: So now you want to criminalize compassion as well?? As MmeYana said--you don't get to "inflict your values on me"--or lack thereof.
laughwithu...maybe you could post what is is you eat for breakfast so that I can avoid it. Call me a bleeding heart, at least I have one.
As for the City Council just say NO. These people harm no one other than themselves. As for the Chief of Police don't you have better things to be doing within the community that could be considered proactive instead of reactive.
i live near by i've given to him.........the world is filled with every kind.
Auburn Police ought to start putting my name on their tickets now because I will break that law over and over and over again. Ghandi must be having a good hard laugh right now... :)
Observer: Amen
Do you want to rid your city of panhandlers? Do you want to save local tax dollars? Do you want to see God's love in action? Do you ever wonder why after millions of local dollars have been given to local charities we have more homeless then ever? The answer is simple...after 25 years of shelter, food, clothing and countless of other failed methods, housing with support services reduced chronic homeless in our country by 12% in 2007. Do you want to see it work here? Give to The Lazarus Project Inc in Roseville.