It’s tough on the streets of York

As soon as he sees the bright yellow high visibility vest being worn by Sgt Colin Sutherland, he leaps to his feet and tries to get away.

Sgt Sutherland is too quick for him.

"Mr G**, isn't it?" he says. "How are you at the moment? Where are you living at the moment?"

The man doesn't answer. "Are you in Arc Light?" Sgt Sutherland asks.

"No," the man says, before muttering "there's a place for me."

Sgt Sutherland has a quiet word with him, then he's allowed to leave. He is clearly known to the police.

"We know he's got a family in York," says PC Kelly McTighe as she watches him walk off.

I am on patrol with Sgt Sutherland and his neighbourhood policing team in the centre of York.

Safer York Partnership has just launched its "Are you killing with kindness" poster campaign, urging people in the city not to give money to beggars.

The campaign has been introduced after the number of complaints about begging in the city soared.

Its central message is that, most probably, any money you do give to beggars will be spent on drugs or alcohol, and it won't help them in any way.

It won't benefit the people you give to, in other words - simply fuel their habit and possibly make their problems worse.

As part of the campaign, police are stepping up their work with beggars.

Begging - which can involve anything from the traditional "spare some change, mate?" or a cap with a few coins in it lying on the pavement to aggressive targeting of people using cash machines - is illegal, says Sgt Sutherland. "We would be within our rights to arrest everybody we find begging."

That, however, isn't the strategy police want to adopt.

There wouldn't be much point, for a start. Beggars wouldn't be able to pay fines, so they would only end up being detained in police cells, which would do nobody much good, Sgt Sutherland says.

Instead, the emphasis is on trying to help people who are genuinely homeless and in real need - and trying to deter those who are not.

Jane Mowat, of the Safer York Partnership, says that while about a quarter of people who beg on the streets are genuinely homeless, about three-quarters are not.

There is also evidence that the number of people coming to York specifically to beg is on the increase, she says.

The aim of the "killing with kindness" campaign, therefore, is twofold: l to deter those who are not genuinely in need from targeting York as "easy pickings"

l to get help to those who really do need it.

There are a range of organisations working to support rough sleepers and homeless people in York, Jane says.

They include Arc Light, the Peaseholme Centre, the Salvation Army and drugs organisations such as Compass.

"So there should be no reason why anybody is sitting out in the street begging for money," she says.

The police effort, therefore, focuses on making life difficult for beggars by not allowing them to settle while, at the same time, trying to ensure that those who are in genuine need get help.

It is often Police Community Support Officers such as Michael Lawrenson and Polly Mennell who are at the forefront of the police effort to tackle begging.

Both are members of Sgt Sutherland's Guildhall neighbourhood policing team, and spend much of their working day on patrol in the city centre.

After the encounter with a beggar in Finkle Street, we head along Grape Lane and then double back along Stonegate.

Some days, Michael says, beggars are to be found in all their favourite spots - near Bootham Bar, at the top of Stonegate, beside the cashpoint in St Helen's Square.

Not today, however. In another favourite spot, beneath the clock near City Screen, in Coney Street, we find a piece of cardboard on the ground where a beggar clearly has been operating.

But he or she has gone by the time we get there.

We head across Ouse Bridge towards Budgens convenience store, at the junction with George Hudson Street. It is another favourite spot, much to the annoyance of Budgens managers.

And sure enough, as we get closer, we see an elderly, grey-bearded man sitting on the pavement outside the shop with a cap on the ground in front of him. There are a few coppers in the cap, as an incentive to encourage people to give.

The beggar, who gives his name as Brendan, is sitting on a black plastic bag, smoking a cigarette.

He makes no effort to leave as we approach. Michael and Polly squat down beside him.

"Are you all right, sir?" Michael asks. "I'm afraid we're going to have to move you on."

He jots down a few of Brendan's details.

Originally from Liverpool, he's 57 years old and has been living on the streets in York for a couple of years or so.

"We're worried about you," Michael says. "We want to get you into Arc Light."

Brendan isn't impressed. "I've tried Arc Light," he says. "They have classed me as non-resident here." Which means, he says, they won't take him.

Brendan, it turns out, has been sleeping rough at what he calls the "Care Bear steps" - outside the Central Methodist Church in St Saviourgate.

He tells me he has been on the streets since he got out of jail. He doesn't say what for.

After radioing Brendan's details through to police control, Michael asks him to move on, and advises him not to go into the city centre.

"You can arrest me now," Brendan says. "But I can walk anywhere I want, and I'm going to go into the city if I like."

"Don't be begging today in the city," Michael says."

"I won't beg in the city." It is said with weary patience.

Brendan is clearly one of those who is genuinely homeless and in need. But, as we have discovered today, it is often precisely those people who are the most difficult to help.

It's unwise to give money to beggars

The Are You Killing With Kindness? campaign is not about demonising beggars, stresses Jane Mowat, of the Safer York Partnership.

It is about identifying those who are genuinely in need and trying to help them while, at the same time, trying to deter those who see York as an easy target.

The help is out there for those who really need it, she says. "There should be no reason why anybody is sitting on the street."

Agencies in York who help rough sleepers and the homeless include:

• Arc Light
• The Peasholm Centre
• The Salvation Army
• Compass.

Both police and the Safer York Partnership stress that a big part of the Killing With Kindness campaign is aimed at helping those who are in genuine need.

"Street beggars are vulnerable people, not only to the weather as winter approaches, but also to physical violence," stresses Sgt Colin Sutherland, of York police.

"We are working with other partner agencies at Safer York and City of York Council to help those people who are genuinely in need of our help.

"There is help out there and, if they engage with us, we can assist them to find the help with our partner agencies. The Arc Light Centre and Salvation Army do excellent work, for example, in helping people who find themselves in these unfortunate situations."

The intention, Sgt Sutherland says, is that some police patrols will be accompanied by people from other agencies working with the homeless.

That way, if they find someone who does need help - whether with a drugs or alcohol problem, or else simply to find a roof over their head - they will be able to get it straight away The campaign also contains a tougher message, however.

York is a tourist city which attracts about four million visitors a year, says Ms Mowat.

They don't want to be bothered by aggressive beggars hanging around cashpoints or asking for change - especially if those people aren't genuinely homeless at all.

Statistics suggest only about a quarter of beggars are actually homeless - and there are certainly some in York who only pretend, Sgt Sutherland says.

Some are "day trippers" who come to York by train for the day, beg in the city centre or near the station, then return where they came from.

Others have families or homes to go to.

Such people are committing fraud when they pretend to be homeless so they can beg, he says - and they face the risk of prosecution.

"My message to people who come from outside the city centre to beg on the streets of York - and we do have day trippers - is simply, don't," he says. "You will be located and will face the consequences. Begging is illegal and you could face potential fraud charges."