Beijing took some heat in the press for sweeping its streets of the homeless before the Olympic circus came to town, but China's government isn't the only one trying to banish the disadvantaged from places where visitors tread.

According to the main Atlanta newspaper, the Journal-Constitution, cops have been trawling the streets this month dressed as tourists, hoping to catch panhandlers in the act of rustling up money. As of last week, 44 beggars have been arrested.

One of the police commanders in town explains that the frequency and intimidating style of local begging has gotten so bad that it's annoying tourists and scaring them away. And because most tourists who feel accosted by beggars don't return to town to testify, the city had to resort to using officers posing as tourists so that there would be someone around to tell it to the judge. The decoys are even rigged with hidden cameras.

Atlanta, which passed an ordinance three years ago that banned verbal panhandling in a restricted downtown area near the Georgia Aquarium, is far from the only city to place limits on begging. In the Peachtree City, beggars can usually get by silently holding a sign that asks for cash. But ask "aggressively" -- the interpretation, like the one for obscenity, is fluid -- and it's a crime.

The AP reported this week that a police survey of panhandlers outside a Wal-Mart in Coos Bay, OR showed they pull in as much as $300 a day. Earlier this year, Jennifer Margulis of the Oregon Mail Tribune reported on a couple who described themselves as "affluent beggars," who made between $300 and $800 a day, on top of the $500 of food stamps they received monthly. The reports have, as you might expect sparked a great deal of local controversy.

Certainly I've seen a steady increase in those working the freeway exits. In fact, I've wondered at times if they aren't part of an elaborate graduate student experiment, testing a matrix of marketing messages; help a vet vs. will work for food, etc.

According to a study by the U.S. Department of Justice, this career choice appeals most to young men, many with substance abuse problems. The more lucrative outlet locations are in cities with better social support networks, because residents have already demonstrated they have compassion for the needy. Women with children and those with obvious disabilities do better than those who appear able. Half of the typical beggar's take comes from regular "customers."

Statistics about the panhandling take are scant, and reports such as this will probably not change any minds; those who suspect this is typical will be reassured, those who don't will write it off as an anomaly.

Still, if I don't blog for a few days, I may be off testing another way of making some cash...