Abington Police Lt. Pat Molloy and Abington Police officer Roger Gillespie said today that the police department will give residents who sign up for the township’s do-not-solicit list a sticker to place on their front door … letting would-be solicitors know that the residents are, in fact, on the list.
The list of residents is also given to a would-be solicitor when he or she applies to solicit in the township, so the sticker is not required.
The 3-inch by 3.75-inch plastic sticker is white with a blue image of the township police seal. It's removable and reads:
No solicitation
Offenders Prosecuted
Sponsored by C.A.P.T.
“We would like to bring them out to community events in the future to talk about them,” Molloy said. “We would ask residents to place them as prominently as possible on their front door — perhaps next to their doorbell.”
Abington is looking to revamp its solicitation ordinance; the topic will likely be discussed next month. Gillespie and Molloy said they will be working with the board and township officials to craft an updated ordinance. The ordinance was last updated in the early 1990s. And while they have not had any official meetings, Molloy said the board is supportive of new provisions like asking solicitors for background checks and making sure that they wear wearing photo IDs around their necks.
Click here to read the township's current policy on solicitation.
Gillespie said, “[With the stickers] we want to encourage people to take advantage of this no-solicitation list that we have.”
The organization Citizens and Police Together (C.A.P.T.) purchased the stickers.
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Glenside resident Theresa Dugan stopped by the Abington Police records room late this morning to put her name on the do-not-solicit list. She said that about three weeks ago a woman asked to see her electric bill; the woman did not have a permit to solicit.
Has someone asked to see your electric bill?
“She said she was with the energy company and wanted to make sure I wasn’t overpaying with my bill — she sort of made it sound like it was with PECO,” Dugan said. “I asked her if she had a permit and the woman said she didn’t need one. I said, ‘Well, in Abington you do. And you’re making me think that PECO sent you out at 8 o’clock to see my bill?’”
Dugan also said during the summer, a man in his 30s with a clipboard was going door-to-door in her neighborhood saying he was collecting money for a girl’s soccer team. He said he was the coach.
There was nothing on his clipboard.
Dugan said she would support a tightened-up version of the solicitation ordinance, adding that it would especially benefit elderly people in the township.
