While current city ordinances place some restrictions on panhandling, in most instances it is a legal means of making money. Bill Davis, spokesperson for Asheville Police Department, says police had received 95 calls for panhandling this year as of Aug. 17, the majority of which were requests for wellness checks out of concern for those in need.
Uvalde, the deadliest school shooting in a decade, underscored persistent questions about school safety, stricter gun laws and ways to “harden” schools to help keep students and staff safe. In Asheville and Buncombe County, those topics are on the minds of families, law enforcement and school personnel.
Response times rose from an average of 8.2 minutes for the highest-priority calls in the 12 months before the shift — which had the Asheville Police Department no longer send officers to the scenes of certain minor crimes — to 9 minutes in the 12 months after.
