Atlanta targets aggressive panhandlers - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5

Experts say a move by the Atlanta City Council to toughen penalties for panhandlers may have little effect. They say it is because some of them collect too much money and have made the practice their jobs.

Some homeless advocates say that aggressive panhandlers can bring in about $100 a day depending on how long they can be on their feet.

While some panhandlers will wait by the side of the road near a busy intersection with a sign, aggressive panhandlers will approach someone walking down the street and ask directly for money.

Workers at a transitional shelter for homeless men say they have had men come into the shelter sometimes with as much as $1,600 in their pockets from panhandling. They say you can tell a hustler from a normal panhandler by his attitude. He walks around with a since of entitlement that someone should be giving him money.

Some who frequent downtown Atlanta tell FOX 5 News that they will see them or even be approached by them near Philips Arena and the Georgia Dome before and after events and games.

This new law would give the authority to arrest an aggressive panhandler the first time instead of giving warnings until the third time.