ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - With St. Louis on the national stage for the Cardinals playoff games this weekend, as well as the Rams Monday Night Football game, city officials are urging fans to be aware of professional panhandlers coming to town.
On her personal Twitter account, city health director Pam Walker said those panhandlers may try to pose as local homeless persons seeking money.
The city’s human services director, Bill Siedhoff says it’s better to call the United Way hotline at 2-1-1 if you want to help out, “They’ll identify a homeless services provider that’s geared toward ending homelessness, instead of having people continue down a path that’s destructive to them and the community as well.”
Siedhoff says in addition to panhandlers, sports fans also need to be watchful for pick-pocketers and people selling bogus game tickets.
He says to report to police anything that seems out of the ordinary.
