New Haven (AP) — With cardboard signs in hand pleading for donations, those who are seeking helpful handouts are stationed on sidewalks at many crossroads in the city.

Residents have noticed, as have police and members of the Board of Alders. Whether or not there has been a true uptick in the numbers of panhandlers, the issue is back on the city's radar.

Police Chief Dean Esserman has encouraged his officers not to make arrests when dealing with these panhandlers.

"It's difficult. It's your First Amendment right to stand with a sign," Sgt. Tammy Means recently told members of the Downtown Community Management Team. "But, when you're standing in the street it gives us a little more to work with."

Most constitutional experts also note the First Amendment covers the right to hold a sign peaceably or ask for money on public property. Laws in place can affect panhandling, such as breach of peace, creating a public disturbance.

For New Haven residents and alders, the focus isn't on shutting down panhandlers completely, but rather curtailing those who more aggressively approach others for handouts.

"Sometimes you can't walk two blocks without getting asked five times. Which is fine when they're non-threatening," said Edward Anderson, a downtown resident for the past 25 years.

It becomes a problem when panhandlers follow people down the sidewalk or approach them while they're getting gas or wait for them while they get out of their car, he said.

"Nobody should be made to feel uncomfortable," Anderson said.

Areas such as North Frontage Road by Gateway Community College, Martin Luther King Boulevard and part of Orange Street and Trumbull Street are especially saturated with sign-wielding panhandlers. "It's just not a great welcome to New Haven," said Alder Abbe Roth, D-7.

Citizens at the downtown CMT meeting painted the picture of a savvy group of panhandlers, who, when police are called, will fold their cardboard signs into their back pockets and walk away for 20 minutes or so, returning when the coast is clear. They also choose to be out during high-traffic times, one resident said, especially rush hour.

"Oh, they know when people are out," downtown resident Elaine Piraino-Holevoet said.

Win Davis, executive director of Town Green Special Services District, which works to improve the business climate downtown, called panhandling a "big economic development issue" as well as a "social issue." He said that panhandling and homelessness are often two things that people lump together. Through the Give Change, Make Change campaign, the agency has sent social workers to do outreach with people potentially in crisis in the area of the city Green, where many of the panhandlers are, he said.

Davis also said Town Green is working with the city on an educational campaign to teach the public the difference between panhandlers and the homeless.

"New Haven is not unique," he said. "Most urban environments are having similar issues."

At the recent Downtown Community Management Team meeting, residents and alders talked about possibly creating an ordinance similar to the one in Middletown that would further restrict panhandling and make it easier for police to discourage them or make arrests. A complaint about panhandling in the city was posted in May on SeeClickFix, an online site with which the city partners to field and address residents' concerns. One posted on that thread expressed frustration, saying, "While we appreciate the efforts by the police, city and state, we think this needs a long term solution that works."

Milford last year considered a ban on panhandling and then launched an anti-panhandling campaign late last year that encourages residents to donate to local human service agencies rather than give to panhandler.

The Middletown city code has a section dealing specifically with panhandling in aggressive or false and misleading manners. Touching, following, intentionally blocking or causing someone to fear bodily harm are all prohibited, as is falsely representing oneself to ask for money.

"Panhandling in general we don't tolerate. If someone's walking around asking people for money, we will put a stop to it," Middletown Mayor Daniel Drew said.

Drew said this is done by deploying officers downtown and on Main Street. More often than not, officers are "accommodating and tell people to move along" rather than making "a slew of arrests."

"Having the ordinance helps but it's just a difficult thing to deal with. We found that presence downtown by the police really discourages a lot of this type of behavior," Drew said.

In New Haven, a possible ordinance is still just an idea at this point and has not formally gone before the Board of Alders this year.

In 2012, city police did make an arrest in what was called a case of alleged "aggressive panhandling," but only after downtown beat officers (who had heard many complaints from businesses and shoppers) had given "many warnings to stop" to the person charged, police said at the time. The man was charged with disorderly conduct.

Outside of contemplating a law change, New Haven does have other projects in the works to help the homeless in the community. In the coming months, the Board of Alders could approve programs to install 10 repurposed parking meters. The money placed in these meters will be donated to a charitable organization. The meters will be posted in public spaces, not by parking spots, with heavy foot traffic. The city's Department of Transportation, Traffic and Parking, along with the Homeless Advisory Commission submitted the idea to the City Plan Commission. It is now at the subcommittee level of the Board of Alders.

"Mayor (Toni) Harp has challenged her departments to find better ways to work as a team with our community partners, our residents and visitors and other departments to solve bigger challenges together," said Doug Hausladen, director of the Department of Transportation, Traffic and Parking.

If alders approve this idea, Hausladen, who has previously served as an alder in the city, said that the meters would be shipped 10 weeks after the contracts are signed.

"At the end of the day, we want a successful downtown and a successful New Haven for all, not for some," Hausladen said.

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Information from: New Haven Register, http://www.nhregister.com