Squeegee ban in effect; outreach is ongoing
‘We’re working with them,’ Baltimore officials say
A group of several squeegee workers were gathered in the median of President Street in downtown Baltimore during rush hour Tuesday, a familiar sight in a city where young people offering to wash motorists’ windows for cash have been a fixture for decades.
Except they weren’t supposed to be there. As of Tuesday morning, the city’s squeegeeing ban along six major corridors took effect, with Baltimore Police able to deliver warnings to squeegee workers. And in one month, a third warning will carry the penalty of a citation and potential fine for workers ages 18 and above.
Nearby, a few squeegee workers who’d split off from the larger group chatted with city government officials there who were trying to reach the workers and connect them to city services.
“We’re working with them,” said James Davis, with the Mayor’s Office of African American Male Engagement. “When you
get to a certain age, you want to get your own income, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Davis’ outreach — he and a coworker said they were trying to connect the group of young people to job programs through the city — came as Baltimore took the first enforcement step under Mayor Brandon Scott’s plan to help get the workers job training or other resources and get them off city streets.
Talon Heneriques, 23, stood to the side of President Street on Tuesday, aiming to catch cars passing through outside lanes. He told The Baltimore Sun he’d been squeegeeing on and off for about nine years, calling himself part of an “older crew” of workers.
He’d been out for about an hour and hadn’t pulled in much cash, he said, but also hadn’t been bothered by police during that time.
“I barely even do it,” said Heneriques, who has a child and repairs computers for income to support his family, of squeegeeing. “I’ve had other jobs. I mostly do it as a side hustle.”
Workers gathered again Wednesday along President Street, drawing a police response.
The window washers’ presence on city streets became a renewed political flashpoint last year following the July death of Timothy Reynolds, 48, who confronted squeegee workers with a bat at a downtown intersection. The interaction ended with one of the workers, a 14-year-old boy, shooting and killing Reynolds.
Faith Leach, Baltimore’s deputy mayor of equity, health and human services, said in an interview that as of Tuesday afternoon, outreach workers with the city and grassroots groups had made contact with four squeegee workers on their way to the President Street intersection — intervening before the workers would’ve received a warning from police. And they expected to reach even more before the day was over.
Leach said the city is working with Baltimore Police and community partners to develop what she called a “monitoring schedule” for the targeted zones.
“The idea is we want to divert young people from even having to engage with BPD,” Leach said. “That’s why we’re working with these organizations so that we can have somebody that’s out there monitoring and that can co-respond with BPD.”
A police department spokesperson said Wednesday that officers responded Tuesday
to four squeegee-related calls for service, but did not provide the number of warnings delivered by officers
The city’s Squeegee Collaborative, which was convened last summer to find solutions and assistance for workers who clean windows for cash at downtown intersections, identified that Black youth and young men in Baltimore find “creative ways to make money,” including squeegeeing, as they cope with poverty and the lasting impacts of structural racism.
“Squeegeeing in Baltimore is part of a larger systemic failure to address poverty in our city, stemming from redlining and other engineered racist policies enacted in the early 19th Century throughout urban communities,” a report released in November said.
In acknowledgment of that, the city plan calls for pairing enforcement with connection to services, ranging from workforce opportunities, recreation, mental health or substance abuse counseling, and skills training. A job fair held last week offered both resources and career opportunities.
The plan also calls for the school system to attempt to reengage the workers with school and a new platform for drivers to contribute money to the workers. That site, called Shine, which connects motorists to individual squeegee workers, has begun without heavy advertising. As of Tuesday afternoon, five young people were listed, with $90 donated in total.
The city’s squeegee workers are a “finite” group of young people, typically fewer than 150 individuals who’ll squeegee with varying frequency. They’ve been a presence on city streets for four decades, and several have told The Sun they use the money to meet basic needs; a survey of workers found the top reason to start squeegeeing was not having enough money.
Officials hope the model of reaching out to young people of color who are disconnected from school or work, and helping them get on “positive pathways,” can be replicated on a wider scale.
What stakeholders hope to do, Leach said, is “change the mindset of these young people.”
“The thing about squeegeeing is it’s not a long-term career path,” Leach said. “Our ultimate goal is not just cut off the money and cut off them being able to make money. It is to show them that there are better longterm pathways for them.”
The city plan laid out six zones to initially target, where squeegeeing and panhandling have been most prevalent.
But Leach said it’s a working plan, subject to change.
A memo from Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison, provided to The Sun, doesn’t list specific zones of enforcement. Spokesperson Lindsey Eldridge said the policy guidance applies citywide, and the department’s area of focus is the “disallowed zones.”
“It is the responsibility of BPD to uphold traffic laws and foster public safety,” Harrison wrote in the memo. “This not only includes conducting traffic enforcement to alter the behavior of drivers, but to also ensure pedestrians are adhering to traffic laws.”
The document sets out for officers that squeegee workers’ information should be collected and warnings documented during interactions. Police, officials say, will be equipped to connect individuals with the Mayor’s Office of African American Male Engagement. That office will have access to data on who police are engaging.
Workers ages 18 and above will receive two verbal warnings. A third violation, after Feb. 10, will be subject to a citation and potential fine.
If the person in the roadway is under 18, officers are instructed to de-escalate the situation and to “persuade the youth of the danger of their actions.”
If that’s unsuccessful, the child could be taken into custody and taken to their parent or guardian. If they can’t be reached, the child will be taken to the Department of Social Services, the memo said.
Shamonté Jones, 22, who was at a Baltimore intersection near M&T Bank Stadium
on Tuesday morning, said he’d heard about the day’s planned start to enforcement but was not concerned because his spot isn’t in one of the six disallowed zones.
Squeegeeing since he was 17, Jones typically arrives around 7 a.m. and works into the afternoon. He said he can earn up to about $200 per day.
Members of the squeegee collaborative have offered mentorship to several workers, and Miji Bell, who sits on the board of directors for the City Center Resident Association, said she regularly speaks with some of the young people who work around M&T Bank Stadium. Bell said she made an effort to keep workers in that area up to date about planned enforcement as well as the opportunities the city has to offer in place of window washing.
“They have the reputation for being very respectful to drivers,” Bell said of the workers around the stadium. “I have even parked at a distance sometimes and observed their interactions — they approach the car and always ask if the driver wants their windshield cleaned. If not, they move on. I have never seen any kind of commotion or altercation between them and drivers.”
Jones said he has received other job opportunities, some through the city, but doesn’t view them as a “guarantee.” In the past, he said he had been rejected by would-be employers at the end of the hiring process, leading him to doubt the efficacy of the city’s assistance.
“I’m good right here,” Jones said of his squeegeeing, adding that he’s popular in the area. “I do it because of the hustle. I enjoy hustling.”