'They're Tired Of Being Harassed' | Gov. Hogan Fears Squeegee Kids Deterring Baltimore Tourism
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Governor Larry Hogan said he fears people are not coming into Baltimore because they don't like dealing with squeegee crews on the corners.
He said several community leaders had concerns about them during a meeting Monday morning.
The squeegee issue isn't going anywhere, and the governor said that's because the squeegee crews can make so much money in the city. Police have no plans to crack down on the practice.
"Everybody knows us right here because we're the good guys in blue," a squeegee crew member said.
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On an unseasonably warm day on Gay and Orleans Streets, the squeegee crew was doing lucrative business Monday, with no plans to slow down.
"I'm just trying to work and take care of my family. That's it," a squeegee worker said.
"I don't know who keeps telling people we don't go jobs. Because I work. At Amazon. Sparrows Point. I got me a 9 to 5 and I still squeegee," another squeegee worker said.
"I thought it was driving people- keeping people from coming into the city because they're tired of being harassed on the streets," Gov. Hogan said at the Broadway Diner earlier Monday.
After breakfast with community leaders, the governor said he's heard their concerns over the squeegee crews, but getting them off the corners will be difficult.
"The problem is some of these squeegee kids make $40 or $50 an hour harassing people on the streets, and it's hard to replace that with a job," Gov. Hogan said.
In the past two weeks, police investigated a man being punched by a person with a squeegee on President Street that was captured on video. In another case, a woman was sprayed when she declined to have her windshield washed.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison told lawmakers last week that other than for an act of violence, officers are not stopping anyone's squeegee business.
"The enforcement of that we have been informed is unconstitutional," the commissioner said. "To do that takes many officers away from the assignment thereby not providing any public safety for far more serious things."
'We don't disrespect nobody. We don't frustrate nobody. We just get our money and go about our day," a squeegee worker said.