To address public safety concerns, the Des Moines City Council has passed legislation making it illegal for people soliciting money or food to enter the roadway to approach cars.

Interim Police Chief John O'Leary said Des Moines is not trying to stop people from panhandling. But when a car stops for someone on a busy street like Pacific Highway South, it creates a safety problem for the person in the roadway, as well as drivers who come up behind the stopped vehicle.

O'Leary said the police department has received numerous complaints of problems being caused by panhandlers walking into the roadway to get food or money. He also said he, as well as other police officers, have witnessed the problems first hand, but until this legislation the police have had no effective recourse.

Councilman Dan Sherman asked O'Leary what this law would do that the current laws and regulations could not.

O'Leary said the police have fined people for loitering. But it doesn't get the people off of the streets, and since most of the people cited cannot pay the fine anyway it has not been an effective solution.

The new law just passed makes it an arrestable offence to enter an "arterial roadway" for the purpose of solicitation. An arterial roadway is defined as a roadway that has a double yellow line.