Panhandling as prelude to a robbery?

[zmgmeister.livejournal.com]

OK, with the current discussion about crime I want to ask an opinion of the group. If you have a couple of youths ask you on the street for money, and they don't look homeless, is it a good idea to call the cops on them as "suspicious persons" or is it just me being suspicious?

Comments

[damsel-ophelia.livejournal.com]

Huh. *rubs chin thoughtfully* Haven't hit that one before. The low-traffic thing would make me wary, though.

[zmgmeister.livejournal.com]

Like (this is also for one of the previous posters) I don't expect everyone who's homeless to have beards and ragged clothes, and I used to work in a homeless shelter.

But there is a certain role that goes along with panhandling, and it includes choosing a place with very high pedestrian traffic. If someone asks me for change in Davis, Porter, Harvard, or Central square, I understand.

But if someone asks me for money in Teele square, yeah, I get suspicious.