To report being approached by homeless people in supermarket car park

I would’ve driven off too. No mother and child needs some random knocking and harassing them when they’re going about their business. I don’t blame you for complaining op.

These threads never go well though, you always get the holier than thou types who would’ve bought him a hot dinner and made friends with him for life. 🙄

A car park can be considered a "public place" if it is accessible to the general public, meaning anyone can park there, like a car park attached to a shop or a public park

the car park is not a public place...

https://www.askthe.police.uk/view-category/?id=1abf981b-6ad2-eb11-bacb-000d3ad57443

It might not sound threatening to you but the op was scared so it was threatening to her

Knocking and banging are interchangeable yes, and he also shouted.

if someones knocks on your door would you describe that as banging?

if he was banging she would've said, considering she's felt scared already.

Homeless people are allowed in the carpark the same as anyone else is. Maybe he was using the shop? Of course there's a high chance he was begging, but so what? Just politely decline.
It's hardly the crime of the century. Imagine how awful it must be to live in the streets in the middle of winter? I'd probably have offered him a coffee.

If he knocked on the window just tell him to pack it in and go away , if you are parked close to the shop in a parent and toddler space I really doubt it was deserted .

She literally says he knocked on the car window four lines in.

she did not say he banged on the car window, people are extrapolating.

asking someone through a car window to beg ins't a threat and i don't think the police do either, other wise the numerous people at every traffic light would be under arrest.

There are a lot of feelings you could have between fear to the extent of being unable to get out of your car and trust. The chances of someone assaulting you in a public space are slim. You should never trust anyone you don’t know well. Find some middle ground. Just be cautious of strangers, homeless or otherwise and go about your day

I'd probably have waited until he moved away rather than driving off, but yes, report it to the supermarket. It is a security issue affecting the wellbeing of their customers.

Banging on windows and asking for money is intrusive and anti-social. Begging is an offence; most people are happy to leave a beggar to be if they're not being obstructive.

There is a high chance of someone begging like this being drunk, on drugs or mentally/ emotionally voltatile which is worthy of caution.

I have lots of sympathy for anyone homeless and I certainly don't think that they should be punished or derided, however I don't think a homeless man is doing himself or anyone else any favours by approaching women in their cars, knocking on their windows and demanding to speak to them.

I am surprised how many people here think that this is kosher - if nothing else, it seems like it could put the homeless person in harm's way if someone feels they're being intimidated.

Being approached by a random man in a secluded place who insisted he “had to talk to you”, with your child in the car, wouldn’t put you at ill ease?

It certainly would if they were persistent and refused to go away. It sounds like this guy walked off though. Not really that scary on paper.

Agree you should always trust your instincts though.

He was banging on her car window. That is threatening!

Supermarket security could reasonably tell people begging not to approach shoppers or bang on windows.

Of course banging on your window is intimidating.

Supermarkets here allow regular homeless people to sit outside, and some have regular donors who know their names, chat etc. Our local Mums network Facebook group quite often has posts like ‘anyone seen Fred from outside Tesco recently, but worried about him’ ‘yes he’s outside Asda now , he said he’s been in a hostel near there ‘ etc.

I'd say someone banging on the car window and demanding interaction is someone to be wary of.

Begging can result in an arrest so yes banging on car windows to do so is a crime.

Having sympathy and looking to help the homeless is what we all should do, but that does not extend to condoning threatening behaviour - that includes approaching people to beg, in their cars or otherwise.

Tell the store so they can increase their security presence. This is the responsible thing to do. Obviously don't give money to beggars in car parks.

Some odd replies on this thread.

OP you are perfectly right to be concerned that a random man thinks it is OK to band on your car window and shout at you to intimidate you into giving him money while you are just going about your business.

The homeless part is irrelevant, this is not appropriate behaviour full stop and should be reported to the supermarket.

I work for a charity that support homeless people, mostly homeless men. The reality is that a large number have drug and alcohol addictions and/or mental health issues and can be very volatile and aggressive, even towards the frontline workers who are only trying to help them.

Agressive begging is never appropriate and don't feel any guilt about reporting that the car park has become unsafe.

The supermarket management won't want customers being threatened or the premises being used to consume illegal substances.

YANBU Knocking on a car window repeatedly when you've been told no is aggressive behaviour. There's a road near where I work where beggars bang on car windows whilst traffic is at a standstill in rush hour, the Police are finally clamping down on it.

I’m pretty robust and I’m not “scared of poor people” or “men”.But if I feel intimidated and have children with me then I’m not willing to take risk and I don’t care if I’m perceived as rude.

OP is not complaining about the existence of a homeless man, she’s complaining that she felt unsafe because someone shouted at her and she couldn’t do what she’d intended. I think it’s entirely reasonable to report and if I owned the business I’d want to know too.YANBU

Do report it, with the threat to shop somewhere else. While it is hard for supermarkets to much about this, they will follow the money: if they believe that something like this is frightening customers away, they may do something, for example by patrolling car parks. This may appear "pointless" in itself, as there's a limit to what they can actually do, but sometimes the presence of security staff can have an effect.

Seeing homeless people around is a sad fact of life, although it shouldn't be. There's a spot I walk past where the regulars have dropped the line "spare some change, please", and now say "God bless" to everyone who passes. I've sometimes seen several people talking to whoever is there, which I have not seen anywhere else. There are also those who "work" the underground, with their well-rehearsed speeches, some of which I know by heart. It's a well-known fact that some homeless people are in gangs, sent there by somebody else and picked up by car at the end of their shift, but I'm not sure how to tell them apart from those who are genuinely homeless.

It is crossing a line into intimidation when they start invading your space by banging on windows; and as others have said, they can be robbers in disguise, so of course we have a right to feel nervous. There are things which beggars used to do, which I haven't seen so much in the last ten or twenty years: the car window washers, for example, who would wash the windows of cars at traffic lights without asking, and then aggressively demand payment. My mum says that one such man kissed her. My DH says that he remembers times when, as a young man, beggars or charity collectors (before the age of regulated "chuggers", armed with their lanyards and clipboards) made him feel uneasy, for example by pursuing him, and grabbing his hand when he ignored them. He also recalls school trips in France, where if their party was seated outside McDonalds, the child beggars would descend, and would tug at people until they were given money. (His fellow pupils would mutter "look at their pristine trainers!")

I live in london so i'm pretty immune to "colourful" characters. I wouldnt like the knocking on the window tbh, ive had it a lot in car parks where they just approach me but i always say no