Panhandlers in Charles Village not viewed as a threat to students

He's a normal figure on St. Paul's St. With uncanny regularity, he paces up and down the sidewalk, stumbling over his lanky legs, shuffling his feet against the sidewalk to go ... nowhere in particular.

Obscenities tumble from his mouth in the Baltimore night, and he spits expletives at passersby, even periodically struggling to scramble into the Blackstone Apartments.

He's a recognizable figure to Hopkins students. He's "Mikey." Essentially, "Mikey" is the most widely known of a community of local panhandlers, mentally ill and other shady characters in Charles Village. His presence has augmented the feel of unease and insecurity among Hopkins students in the area, a fear entirely unnecessary according to the Hopkins security office.

According to Officer Dennis Rosemary, panhandlers and transients have significantly decreased in the past few years, and the security office has received minimal reports of aggressive panhandling or physical assault against students.

"We've become more aggressive on the panhandling situation," said Sergeant Caroline Bennett. "And we really don't have a problem with it on campus."

Most panhandlers have moved out of the neighborhood, seeking more profitable areas, said Rosemary. Moreover, those that remain in the area only target the Charles St. traffic, avoiding unprofitable students.

As for "Mikey," he remains an established image in Charles Village.

"He has been around for nine years," said Bennett. "Michael gets arrested every now and then, and he was gone for a couple of years."

His brief absence has transformed him into a novelty for current Hopkins students, stirring unwarranted student fear, said Bennett.

Regularly, "Mikey" travels down St. Paul's and Charles Streets, up to the Rotunda and through Hampden, making "a huge four or five mile circle all day long," said Bennett.

"He's in good shape," added Rosemary laughingly.

Rosemary and Bennett are convinced that he has a mental illness, but they are not qualified as doctors and cannot substantiate the theory, they said. However, he undergoes periodic alterations in his appearance, shifting from unkempt to presentable. He also alternates between friendly greetings and obscene insults when he encounters police, said Rosemary.

With all facts considered, Bennett feels "Mikey" is not a legitimate threat to student security.

"He will verbally abuse anyone," she said, "but I've never known him to physically assault them."

But both officers recommended that students simply ignore "Mikey" because, "he will defend himself in a second," said Bennett.

Even panhandlers have become infrequent in the neighborhood, though both officers recalled amusing individuals of years past.

"A while ago we had a couple of players - Ohio Bob and Marguerite," said Rosemary.

Garbed in a white lab coat, Marguerite habitually claimed that she was a doctor at the medical center and that her Volvo had broken down with her children in it. She requested $20 from passersby to return home in a taxi cab, even giving donors a false telephone number at the medical center to be reimbursed.

"Oncology was getting 10 to 15 calls per day," recalled Rosemary. "But she was arrested three years ago."

"Ohio Bob was a pretty good scam artist too," said Rosemary. "What they were doing was they had a good enough story that people were giving them money."

One panhandler several years back, said Bennett, stood in front of Levering Hall.

"He had a notebook, and at the top was written 'basketball team" with six signatures below it," she said. "He claimed he was coaching an inner city basketball team and he needed uniforms so he wanted to petition the university for donations."

At the end of a short period of time, he had already obtained seven real signatures and a wad of cash, said Bennett.

While many of these specific events took place in past years, Bennett still offered valuable advice to Hopkins students in handling panhandlers:

"If someone comes up to you with a sob story, offer to call security," she said. "If they truly need help, we will help them."

Then, she laughed. "But they're never there when we get there.