Westminster, CA Public Conduct: Aggressive Panhandling (2026)

030 makes it unlawful to solicit, meaning ask for money or the immediate sale of goods or services, in an aggressive manner anywhere in a public place. 020 defines six kinds of conduct that qualify: approaching, speaking to, or following a person in a way intended or likely to make a reasonable person fear bodily harm or property damage, or to feel intimidated into paying; intentionally touching a person or an occupied vehicle without consent while soliciting; intentionally blocking, delaying or interfering with a pedestrian's or vehicle's safe passage, including forcing evasive action; using violent or threatening gestures toward the person solicited; persisting in following or approaching someone after that person has said they don't want to be solicited; and using profane, offensive or abusive language likely to provoke fear or a violent reaction.

040 layers on location-specific bans that apply even without aggressive conduct: no one may solicit from or to the driver or occupant of an unparked vehicle on a public street or highway, and no one may solicit within fifteen feet of a financial institution's entrance during business hours, or within fifteen feet of an ATM or a person waiting in line to use one. 010 explain the rationale as protecting a "captive audience," such as someone standing at an ATM with cash out or a driver stopped at a signal, from intimidation and elevated risk of physical altercation. 050, every violation is an infraction, escalating to a misdemeanor only after five or more convictions under the chapter within a rolling thirty-six-month period.