Santee, CA Public Conduct: Aggressive Panhandling (2026)

Section 7.32.020 bars coercing, threatening, harassing, or intimidating anyone for the purpose of soliciting money or goods on streets, sidewalks, or other places open to the public. The ordinance defines five specific behaviors that cross the line into "aggressive": conduct that would make a reasonable person fear for their safety, intentionally blocking the solicitee's path, following someone closely and continuing to demand money after being refused, blocking access to a building entrance open to the public, and ignoring a posted sign restricting when or where soliciting is allowed (signs must use lettering at least a half-inch tall).

Section 7.32.020(C) lists factors relevant to whether a reasonable person would fear for their safety, including physical contact, proximity, duration of the encounter, and threatening gestures. A separate provision, § 7.32.010, restricts ordinary (non-aggressive) solicitation citywide: no soliciting from or of vehicles on public highways, no soliciting at bus stops or transit facilities, none within 50 feet of a signalized intersection, and none within 20 feet of an ATM or bank entrance or exit. Enforcement in Santee runs through the San Diego County Sheriff's Department's Santee Station under the City's law-enforcement services contract, backed by the City's general misdemeanor, infraction, and administrative-citation authority in Title 1.