While commuting to work or going to grab lunch, we have all experienced panhandling in Baltimore City. Panhandling has come under greater scrutiny in the past year in light of the murder of a 52 year old Good Samaritan who attempted to help a panhandler in Baltimore garnered national media attention.[1]Despite the murder of this Good Samaritan, and having several panhandling laws on the books, panhandling in the city is more rampant then ever. As a result of this egregious murder and outcry over Baltimore’s notorious “squeegee kids,” Mayor Pugh and the Baltimore City Council have begun to seek out sustainable solutions to address the City’s longstanding panhandling epidemic.[2]

There are three applicable sections of the Baltimore City Code that address panhandling within the City’s limits.[3]They consist of §47-3 a ban on “aggressive soliciting” in any public place, §47-4 that bans solicitation within certain areas including a ban on soliciting from any “. . .operator or occupant of a motor vehicle that is in traffic on a public street, whether in exchange for cleaning the vehicle’s windows or otherwise, and §47-5 a ban on nighttime solicitation.[4]However, it is apparent that these sections of the Baltimore City Code are not being enforced and are blatantly disregarded. The legal history behind panhandling in the City provides an answer as to why the panhandling epidemic has persisted.

The crowding of Baltimore City streets by “squeegee kids” has persisted since the 1980s without any real effort to solve the prevalent issue.[5]Similarly, Baltimore like most urban centers in the United States has not been able to escape the increase in homeless that has occurred nationally in recent years.[6]The history of combatting panhandling in Baltimore has been one of great turbulence. In 1993 Baltimore City police and privately hired public safety guides were used to crackdown on panhandling in the City’s tourist locations.[7]While the anti-panhandling campaign was successful, the American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”) filed suit against the City with the City eventually settling the suit and agreeing not to ask people to move along from where they are panhandling unless they were violating another valid ordinance.[8]Similarly, in 2013 the City faced backlash from the homeless community and ACLU over a newly adopted “aggressive panhandling bill.”[9]Amidst pressure from the ACLU and public outcry, the City opted to not pursue the bill any further.[10]

While traditional methods to counter panhandling have failed, Mayor Pugh has recently introduced a $2 million plan aimed at providing 100 youth with year round employment and a stipend as an alternative to becoming a “squeegee kid.”[11]The program will be modeled off of the YouthWorks program and will employ teenagers in work that aims to clean up the City while obtaining financial literacy and entrepreneurship training.[12]While this proposal has received its fair share of outcry, any ‘outside of the box’ attempt at curing Baltimore’s panhandling epidemic should merit some consideration.

Ryan Parry is a third-year day student at the University of Baltimore and will graduate in May of 2019. He serves as an Associate Editor of the UB Law Forum. His legal interests include criminal and family law.  You can view his LinkedIn here: www.linkedin.com/in/w-ryan-parry-050887132

[1]Lillian Reed, As death of woman who helped panhandler gets national attention, Baltimore homeless see decline in generosity, The Baltimore Sun, (Dec. 6, 2018), https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-panhandlers-20181205-story.html.

[2]Catherine E. Pugh, Baltimore Developing $2 Million Program for ‘Squeege kids’, The Baltimore Sun, (Oct. 22, 2018), https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-op-1023-squeegee-corps-20181022-story.html.

[3]Elizabeth Janney,Panhandling Under Scrutiny After Baltimore Homicide, Patch.com, (Dec. 3, 2018), https://patch.com/maryland/baltimore/panhandling-under-scrutiny-after-baltimore-homicide.

[4]See generally, Baltimore City Code, Article 19, §47.

[5]Pugh, supranote 2.

[6]Hugo Bachega, Homeless in US: A deepening crisis on the streets of America, BBC, (Oct. 8, 2018),https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45442596.

[7]Paul W. Valentine, ACLU Sues Over Treatment of Homeless In Baltimore, The Washington Post, (Aug. 19, 1993), https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1993/08/19/aclu-sues-over-treatment-of-homeless-in-baltimore/93ea067e-5a3a-42e4-913b-6c9a78f58065/?utm_term=.696d6c6faa68.

[8]Janney, supranote 3.

[9]Baltimore’s Proposed Panhandling Law Causes Backlash, CBS, (Nov. 4, 2013), https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2013/11/04/baltimores-proposed-panhandling-law-causes-backlash/.

[10]Janney, supra note 3.

[11]Pugh, supranote 2.

[12]Sarah Meehan, What they’re saying about Baltimore Mayor Pugh’s $2M ‘squeegee kid’ initiative, The Baltimore Sun, (Oct. 23, 2018), https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-pugh-squeegee-kids-reactions-20181023-htmlstory.html.