Rutledge’s store owner leads effort to lower panhandler population downtown

For years, downtown Colorado Springs has been trying to reduce the number of panhandlers and homeless on street corners.

We’ve spoken to employees as well as business owners downtown, and many say it’s creating a problem. People complain about being yelled at or harassed by the panhandlers and homeless.

Jerry Rutledge says he’s seen it firsthand through his employees as they visit his store on Kiowa and Tejon, in the heart of downtown.

But Rutledge says it hasn’t always been that way. So he contacted the Colorado Springs Police Department Homeless Outreach Team and came up with a plan.

The flower beds downtown were meant for plants, but over the years they’ve become benches for people to sit on. To change that, Rutledge says he and the outreach team built a fence on top of the flower beds so people would be less comfortable sitting or leaning against them.

He says since doing so, he’s seen a big difference on the corner in front of his store.

Now he is wanting to see that same change on every corner, but it comes with a cost.

We’re continuing to work on this story, stay tuned on KRDO and check back on this article for updates.