Been going on here where I am (in the states) for at least 20 years. I am a fitness trainer, and luckily for me I worked for the city because I could run fitness classes in the park as long as I did it "for the city". Other fitness trainers would try to do classes and the city would shake them down for cash. That was about 2000-2010, and I'm sure it's just gotten worse. The city I worked for has gotten more liberal too, so I'm sure the shake for cash is even more expensive now.