As downtown nuisance issues abate, city brings new ordinances

About one month after Mayor Paul TenHaken announced increased enforcement around growing calls for service and nuisance issues downtown, those close to the situation say it’s improving.

“Things have changed,” TenHaken said. “There has been a noticeable change in that nuisance behavior — public drunkenness, people passed out, panhandling, some of that behavior has really throttled back. The community is more aware, so they’re doing less to enable it.”

Businesses also feel more empowered to call the police nonemergency line or reach out to the downtown ambassadors for help, he said.

“I think the ambassadors feel more empowered do to their job because they know the city is behind them in this work.”

Businesses are making changes too, he added, including a change in product mix at some stores.

At The Spice & Tea Exchange on Phillips Avenue, owner Tami Brown also has noticed a change.

“We’ve definitely seen a difference,” she said. “When we drive around, there are still obviously transients downtown — everyone knows that doesn’t just go away — but from our perspective, the behavior is better.”

Some of the frequent offenders “appear to be gone,” she added. “I feel like things are better. We don’t have the drunk ones coming into our store. We don’t have our staff being bothered anymore on their way to their car, which is huge for me, and we’re hoping this is a good situation for everyone because we know that some of the people have gone on to treatment or places where they’re getting some assistance, so that’s good.”

Police Chief Jon Thum said numerous people who had been congregating downtown were provided the opportunity “to go to rehab or go home to their family,” he said.

“We definitely see things trending in a positive direction. Not only is that because of increased law enforcement presence, but increased community awareness and action. I think in many ways, identifying and calling out the issue allowed us all to be more open on what our roles are in addressing this issue.”

This week, two ordinances changes will be brought to the Sioux Falls City Council to further address issues.

Earlier this year, calls for service at the Siouxland Libraries Downtown Library “went through the roof,” TenHaken said. “Which is part of the reason we escalated this. We had more calls for service through July than we did all of last year.”

Police “are doing more sweeps around the building on a regular basis when people are passed out or drinking,” he added.

An ordinance change being brought forward will ban alcohol in the Siouxland Libraries and on library property, similar to the parks system.

“The library has always been an area of focus,” Thum said. “It tended to attract a disproportionate amount of calls specifically in the area of intoxication, and I think this ordinance change is what the public would expect from a library and allows a clear line as to what’s acceptable and not acceptable. The ordinance also respects others wishing to use the library for essential services and information.”

An additional change to the city’s ordinance around disorderly conduct is being brought forward as well. It previously prohibited loitering or congregating on streets and sidewalks and being unwilling to disperse.

It now prohibits unreasonably obstructing or interfering “with pedestrian or vehicular traffic or use thereof or so as to create an unsafe condition for vehicular or pedestrian traffic or use thereof or so as to create an unsafe condition for vehicular or pedestrian traffic or use of the street or sidewalk.”

In recent weeks, signs also have gone up along the interstates discouraging giving money to people soliciting it at on- and off-ramps.

“Those aren’t homeless people,” TenHaken said. “Those are people who quite honestly have houses and cars and are panhandling because it’s good money. We sprinkled some of the messages out there, and that seems to be working.”

Sioux Falls police are maintaining concentrated efforts downtown, though not at the same intensity as they were at its peak.

“It will always maintain a priority, but we are already in strategic planning as to what our adjustments are to deal with issues in the future,” Thum said. “I think it was clear we all need to change our approach a little bit to this issue because the issue is not the same as it once was.”

The Sioux Falls City Council also added $150,000 to next year’s budget for a public awareness campaign.

“I feel like it’s the best result we can expect,” Brown said.

“We had a number of people thank us for being willing to speak out about it because it’s a difficult issue, and at the heart of it, it’s a humanitarian issue,” she said. “But that has to blend with business, and we have to be able to run a business too. It’s not going to be perfect, but I’m trusting the mayor and chief of police and other entities affected and involved that we’ll have this planned better for next year and have a way to deal with it should it happen again early next summer. I think we won’t get to the point that we were at.”