In Annapolis, Harrison Challenged On 'Squeegee Kids'

Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison had a contentious exchange on "squeegee kids" Friday with a Baltimore County delegate.

"It's illegal in Maryland to exchange anything on a public roadway anywhere in the state of Maryland," said Del. Robin Grammer, a 6th District Republican. "If you walk on Dundalk Avenue and you take one step onto the intersection at Dundalk and Holabird Avenue, that's occurring and we don't see any enforcement on that intersection. But we know there are links from what's happening there to more heinous and more violent crimes. And I wanted to ask, is it a lack of officers? Why is there such an extreme lack of enforcement there?"

That intersection is just inside the city line and just outside Grammer's district.

"That is part of the panhandling issue," Harrison told Grammer during the House Judiciary Committee. "They are out there and it's similar to the panhandling issue and the enforcement of that, we have been informed, is unconstitutional."

Harrison acknowledged that it can pose a public safety risk when workers, who are not always minors, step into the street. But he said that enforcement, which would typically be handled with citations, is difficult because minors and individuals who lack a valid address can't receive citations. The alternative would be having officers make arrests, Harrison said.

"As a city, we are engaging them, but not necessarily there to arrest them for the act of squeegeeing," Harrison said. "When they step out of line and commit other acts that are acts of violence or property damage, when that is brought to our attention we investigate that with the hopes of arresting and enforcing that [law] against people who commit those crimes."

There have been a number of high-profile incidents involving squeegee workers, including an incident last week where a man got in a fight with a squeegee kid after he refused a window wash.

Grammer said his concern is an "area of lawlessness" on the city-county line, citing complaints of more serious offenses, including human trafficking, he said city police are not seriously pursuing.