Corporation of Hamilton employees are being urged to be vigilant in keeping the city clear of vagrants and delinquent schoolchildren.

A scheme to create city rangers, that would support Police with the power to arrest individuals and discourage vagrancy, will be discussed with the Commissioner of Police on Friday. In the meantime Corporation members proposed asking city employees to ask vagrants to "move on" and take note of schoolchildren misbehaving in public.

The moved was proposed at a meeting of the Corporation of Hamilton yesterday after Deputy Mayor Glen Smith said he saw a homeless man sleeping just feet from the gangplank of a cruise ship.

"This morning I saw a vagrant sleeping within 15 feet of where tourists get on and off the cruise ship berthed in Hamilton," said Mr. Smith. "I think we have become complacent in dealing with vagrancy in Hamilton. We have become used to seeing certain individuals and while we may know that they are not a threat, they could be intimidating to visitors."

To ensure that Hamilton's vagrants are not interfering with or intimidating visitors, Mr. Smith proposed asking Corporation employees to take it upon themselves to ask vagrants to "move on" when they see them in public areas.

Additionally, Alderman John Harvey proposed asking city employees to take note of and report to schools when they see uniformed schoolchildren misbehaving in public.

"There was an incident recently in Par-La-Ville park where several school students were seen passing around a bottle of scotch among themselves," he said. "I propose asking employees to take note of incidents like these by recording the uniforms they are wearing and reporting back to the school in question. The school can then take any disciplinary action they deem necessary."