New urban crime looking for a victim

Comment:

There's an old joke that ends with the punch line, “We're from the government and we're here to help.” I'm afraid that applies to the city's new shopping cart ordinance, too.

I still don't know who the victim is that this new law is supposed to save. It is certainly not the shop owners. They have simply been given a new, burdensome government regulation that they neither wanted nor asked for.

This is the second time the city has dictated how store owners should conduct their business. First, it dictated what kind of bags could be used and what the store had to charge for them. Now it is dictating how shopping carts should be handled.

The new law allows the municipal court to fine anyone who does not have $500. Anyone who cannot pay the fine can be sent to jail. While I trust that the police and the court will use this new power responsibly, the potential for abuse in the future is obvious.

And for what purpose? If not to protect the stores, then the only other answer is that this is being done to protect us all from the discomfort some people feel when they see a homeless person with a shopping cart on the sidewalk. It reflects badly on our city. We wish they weren't there.

The new law has not even gone into effect yet, and it is already having negative consequences. One day after the ordinance was passed, two employees at a local Albertson's grocery store took one of a homeless woman's shopping carts, leaving her belongings scattered on the ground.

Albertsons denied this, and supporters of the new ordinance accused Community of Hope, which posted the incident online, of fabricating the story. But surveillance videos have since confirmed this, police said.

I don't know either man and I certainly can't judge what was going on in their hearts. But that can't have felt good. I can't believe either of them went home that night happy, knowing what they had done to keep their jobs.

Police Chief Jeremy Story said the ordinance makes it clear that stores should not try to recover their shopping carts. But store owners aren't lawyers and don't usually spend their time going through the legal details of every new ordinance. Not surprisingly, one of them apparently thought he would be held responsible for every abandoned shopping cart police found.

Story assured us that he will be speaking to each and every business owner as part of the implementation plan for the new regulation.

A fundraiser has now been launched to buy shopping carts for people who need them to collect and transport their belongings. This is the most logical solution. Shopping carts are expensive and the ones lying around the community have been stolen at some point, although not by the current owner.

The city relies heavily on programs and services that are not yet fully implemented. Even if everyone involved in enforcing this new ordinance has the best intentions, it will still likely cause harm. And it has already caused harm.

And all this so that our delicate sensibilities are not hurt by the sight of a homeless person carrying all his belongings in a shopping cart.

The opinions expressed by Walt Rubel are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of KRWG Public Media or NMSU. Walt Rubel can be reached at [email protected].