To protect Fresno’s street vendors from crime, get them off cash and onto sales apps

Crime is on the rise in Fresno and street vendors are vulnerable. The rise in the crime statistics does not include all incidents since many go unreported. With two murders of street vendors and a rise in thefts and assaults, it is a threatening time to be a street vendor.

Yet the Fresno community is responding. Fresno community advocates launched community patrols and are helping vendors better defend themselves. The city of Fresno has sponsored the creation of the Food Vendor Association, along with the support of the Fresno Police Department, to help keep street vendors safe while helping to educate and obtain a business license for a $14 cost, along with offering grants to help pay for the licensing fees.

While this is a great start, there needs to be a more direct focus on the target problem, cash transactions. According to the Long Beach Post News, nonprofits such as Local Hearts help with vendor education and electronic funds apps, which are being used by some street vendors in the Los Angeles area, with the hopes of lowering the risk of robbery and assault.

Cash and isolation are two things that make vendors more vulnerable. One way to support this vital part of the economy is to connect two grand challenges that social workers champion to work toward supporting street vendors — harness technology for social good and eradicate social isolation. When one part of our society is not safe, no one is safe.

We recommend that the city of Fresno implement similar actions as Los Angeles to help improve the lives of local street vendors, with the help of the Food Vendor Association of Fresno and the use of grant funding to bridge the language barriers many vendors face and educate on the use of smartphone apps such as Venmo, Cash App, PayPal and Square to convert from cash transactions to electronics funds transactions.

QR codes are another electronic option that can be used on menu items that are linked directly to the vendor’s Venmo or Cash App, allowing the vendor to collect funds automatically without opening the smartphone. Most of the electronic fund apps have little to no fees for the vendor to process transactions.

Most consumers are currently using some type of electronic funds app for purchases in stores and online. For those that do not have this type of app on their smartphones, it’s as easy as downloading the free app, connecting a debit card or credit card to the account, search the app for the store or vendor, select and enter amount to pay and press send. Within a few seconds the vendor receives the funds and consumer receives an email or text with a receipt. Having no money exchange between vendor and consumer lowers the risk of robbery and assault, while giving the vendor some piece of mind.

The Fresno community is working to make safety a priority. With adding new sales technology, vendors and the community can all be a little bit safer.