The hustle and bustle of Chinatown is a common sight on tourist brochures, the groceries in the outdoor stores gleaming brightly and the streets packed with people.

A sunny weekend sends foreigners and locals alike to the busy neighborhood, lured by the promise of cheap food and furnishings.

But there's one group that's never featured in our promotions, and that local merchants don't want coming downtown: panhandlers.

"It is aggressive. Even, you know, the squeegee on the car...they're really in your face," describes area worker Sathish Bala.

To that end, store owners have hired private security to keep the beggars away.

The Chinatown Business Improvement Area has employed Intelligarde to crack down on trespassing, shoplifting and loitering. They claim the move will make the area safer, and more attractive.

At least one person disagrees.

"The security guard right there is going to bring more aggression and more violence to these streets," counters Scott, a self-described homeless advocate who has himself had several run-ins with the guards.

"Sometimes the security guards take their job a little too seriously. They think they have more power than they have, especially in the alleyways and where there's no cameras or witnesses, and you know, security guards sometimes they go too far," he elaborates.

"We do not have a high crime situation in Chinatown but when there are people like loitering and there are people taking drugs and, you know, rowdiness. Chinatown means business and they should move along," argues Stephen Chan, owner of the Bright Pearl Restaurant.

"Chinatown is a busy area. You can see, it's a mall. You know malls actually have security guards and we want to try it to see how that works," Chan continues.

"Yesterday night we were at a restaurant. A panhandler came in and just, you know, asked for money," says shocked tourist John Wong. He's here from Boston.

The plan has the full support of city councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong.

"This is very much a reflection, I think, of a level of frustration of the businesses in Chinatown. There is a problem. We have 400 panhandlers in the downtown core and, you know, these are people who are obnoxious. They've got addictions. They're panhandling to feed these addictions, and they're interfering with these business people," he outlined on CityOnline.

"They're hurting Chinatown, and we all love Chinatown," Minnan-Wong concludes.

The three week pilot project began Thursday, and so far, 10 tickets have been issued. It costs about $7000 to have two people patrol the area Thursdays through Sunday, from 1pm to 9pm.

The BIA can't afford to have the guards constantly on duty.

Still, that's enough for some.

"I think it's already making a difference. I have members from my business improvement area. They came to me and, you know, said that we should have tried this a long time ago," admits Chan.

Some store owners have claimed that aggressive begging makes shoppers uncomfortable, and costs them customers. However, asking for money isn't illegal. Aggressive panhandling is against the law, but the distinction isn't always easy to make.

The guards won't have the same authority as police officers, but it's hoped the uniformed presence will deter panhandlers.

"We have two bases of power," explains Intelligarde CEO and President Ross McLeod on CityOnline.

"One is to make what's called a citizen's arrest, which is where we find [someone] committing in real time with our own eyes an indictable offence...so someone beating somebody up, somebody breaking into a car, that sort of thing," McLeod continued.

The second element is to protect private property, like malls and shops. At first, Intelligarde can ban people from the establishments.

"Then if they come back in and recommit the offence, then we can arrest for entry where entry prohibited," he ends.

"Just like any normal citizen or you, yourself in your house. You could hold somebody, call the police and that's what they would do," supports Insp. William Ellison of Toronto Police.

However, for one woman who makes her living on Spadina, security guard Chris Botting's presence is no deterrent.

"Wherever they see me, they watch me like a hawk. They tell me if they see me trespassing again they'll arrest me. They give me a ticket a lot of times," Crystal outlines.

Still, she says, it's not going to stop her from panhandling in the area.

The BIA's decision was spurred in part by the death of Ross Hammond. The 32-year-old died August 11, 2007, four days after he was stabbed by a panhandler. Police allege he refused to give change to the man, and was attacked by up to four of his friends.

Ontario has a Safe Streets Act. While it doesn't specifically ban panhandling, it does try to restrict who and how you can be approached.

Aggressive panhandling is banned.

They can't intimidate you or threaten you.

They're not supposed to be able to use any abusive language if you don't respond.

And they're not supposed to beg for spare change if they're intoxicated.

The places where begging is illegal in Toronto:

• ATMs,
• Pay phones,
• Taxi stands,
• TTC stops or on a public transit vehicle,
• Public bathroom,
• Getting into or out of a parked car,
• On a roadway.
• In a provincial park,
• No squeegeeing.

The fines: up to $500 for a first offence, $1,000 and 6 months in jail if they're caught doing it again.

Has it worked? The results are open for you to determine.  Check out the Ontario Safe Streets Act here for more information.