Baltimore to reveal squeegee worker plan; BPD commissioner believes residents will be 'quite impressed'

BALTIMORE -- Baltimore City's new policy for squeegee workers will be announced next week, a city representative said at a hearing for the Baltimore police consent decree Thursday morning. 

WJZ investigator Mike Hellgren was present at the hearing and reports the representative said that how the city enforces the law is just as important as whether the law is constitutionally enforceable, and that the new policy won't just be about removing washers from public visibility.

Judge James K. Bredar, who oversees Baltimore City's consent decree, called police after an encounter with squeegee workers in Bolton Hill earlier this month. He told officers the workers spit on his car and wrote "racist" on the windows after they refused "multiple times," according to a police report. 

Bredar noted Thursday that setting policy dealing with squeegee workers is a matter for city leaders and not for the court.

The pending policy comes after a series of public meetings of the Squeegee Collaborative Group, made up of squeegee workers, local businesses and city leaders.

The collaborative's meetings have focused on a variety of topics including the services needed to support squeegee workers, resources needed to sustain the services, accountability for squeegee workers and motorists, communication and implementation, city officials said.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison told Hellgren he believes people will be "quite impressed" with what the city is developing. 

"I've been a part of that squeegee collaborative from the very beginning," Harrison said. "I've only missed a couple of meetings in the past two or three months, I can tell you that the city is making great progress in coming up with recommendations to give to the mayor about how we handle this. And yes, and we're looking at constitutionality. We're looking at the operational effectiveness on how to how to deliver this and how to execute this on a daily basis."

"I do believe that the city is making great progress and I do believe you all will be quite impressed when you hear what the what the mayor will announce in the short future," the commissioner continued. 

Squeegee workers have been struck by vehicles, involved in altercations, and injured while interacting with drivers on street corners.

Earlier this year, a confrontation between a driver and squeegee workers in downtown Baltimore turned violent, resulting in the shooting death of 48-year-old Timothy Reynolds.

The uprising following the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody launched a federal investigation into the Baltimore Police Department, and the city entered into a consent decree to reform the department, overseen by Bredar.

The judge said Thursday that the consent decree process is a new stage of evaluating the results of police reform. He says Baltimore has made progress but is "far from done" with the consent decree and won't be until the public "sees proof that the defendants are in compliance."