How to handle door-to-door solicitations

Note: This information is from Major C. A. Banda, commander of the Atlanta Police Department's Zone Six.

Have you ever been interrupted by a sudden knock at your door, only to find out it's a stranger trying to sell something or soliciting contributions for their organization? You might even say to yourself, there's got to be a law against that! Well guess what there are laws regulating door-to-door sales and begging or soliciting alms.

First let's cover door-to-door sales. Under City of Atlanta Ordinance (30-611 ), "It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in door-to-door sales of consumer goods or services in the city without first obtaining a permit from the city". These laminated permits must be obtained, for a fee, from the Atlanta Police Department, License and Permits Section, after meeting specific application requirements, prior to engaging in the aforementioned sales activity. Even persons falling under the "Exemptions"' status (Section 30-612) must submit an application, but no fee will be charged. So when that knock comes at your door, ask that person to produce the required permit before they even start their "pitch". Be aware that your average con-man" will have a thousand reasons why he has no permit. Remember that there is no "legal" reason to be without a permit. Now is probably a good time to call the police to have this person checked out and escorted out of "your" neighborhood!

Secondly, begging for money is of frequent concern to citizens and visitors of the City of Atlanta. Under City of Atlanta Ordinance (106-85), "It shall not be unlawful to ask, beg, or solicit alms", except for the following behavior. "It shall be unlawful to approach or speak to someone, while asking, begging, or soliciting alms, in such a manner as would cause a reasonable person to fear imminent bodily harm, the commission of a criminal act upon such person's property, upon property in such person's immediate possession, or forcing oneself upon the company of another by continuing to request, beg, or solicit alms to whom the request is directed has made a negative response, or blocks the passage of the individual addressed". Bottom line, if a person soliciting alms approaches you and they continue to solicit you for alms after you have given them a negative response, then "they" have violated this code section. In order to prosecute this offense, the victim of the unlawful solicitation must be willing to appear in court to testify against the accused party.

In summary, there are recourses to take when you, as a law abiding citizen, do not wish to be the victim of aggressive and/or threatening solicitation while you're at home or while walking down the city street. You can be proactive . . call the police . . get involved . . don't feel helpless anymore!

Major C. A. Banda
Zone Six Commander
Atlanta Police Department