Three months ago, when the meal limit at St Francis House was lifted and replaced with a meal time, officials added a police clearance requirement to use any service at the shelter and soup kitchen.
While meal time at St. Francis House is more peaceful and not as crowded, some believe it has created more opposition in the Gainesville community.
Kent Vann, the executive director of St. Francis House, said he added the police clearance requirement in his management plan when he asked the city to replace a 130-meal limit with a three-hour time limit. The St. Francis House serves lunch from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
"The police clearance requirement falls under a safety standpoint," Vann said. "We needed more accountability when the meal limit was lifted."
The policy has created more problems instead of solving them, said Joe Jackson, legal skills professor at UF's Levin College of Law.
"It is mostly minor nuisance-type infractions that lead to people having difficulty getting police clearance," Jackson said. "People have this perception that all homeless people are dangerous. They're not."
In order to get police clearance, people must go to the Gainesville Police Department and show a form of identification. GPD then checks to make sure there is not a warrant out for their arrest and gives out a clearance slip, Vann said. These police clearances need to be renewed each month.
Gainesville resident George Mack said the policy causes too much of a hassle because it requires a trip to the police station.
"There has to be another, more efficient way to make this place safe," said Mack, 22.
Two policemen are at the soup kitchen twice a month to give out police clearances, Vann said. He did this to make it easier for people to get clearances.
Gainesville resident Nina McNeal said she has been coming to eat at St. Francis House almost every day since 1992. In those 20 years, the 59-year-old said she has never felt as safe while she eats her lunch as she does now.
"It keeps all of the riffraff out," McNeal said as she ate her rice and beans. "Sorry they may not be able to eat, but that's their problem. They should have behaved."
Bob Adams eats at the St. Francis House, 413 S. Main St., on Monday morning. New regulations require people using any service at the shelter and soup kitchen to obtain police clearance.
