Vagrancy Arrests Punished by Public Works
Two men arrested for panhandling after running out of money during the Fourth of July celebration are sentenced to five days of street cleaning.
A. J. Kennedy and R. J. McParlan came to Tacoma to help the big celebration along. They spent all of their own money, then began asking various other people for more. Officer Smith arrested the men for vagrancy yesterday, and this morning Judge Griffin ruled that they help clean up the streets for the next five days.
“Officer Smith arrested the men for vagrancy yesterday, and this morning Judge Griffin ruled that they help clean up the streets for the next five days.”
This reflects an era where 'vagrancy' was a tool for social control and policing the visibility of poverty in downtown areas. The practice of using 'work gangs' as a minor judicial sentence for misdemeanors is a direct, albeit dated, ancestor to modern community service requirements.
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