By Ariyana Griffin
AFRO Editor
[email protected]

Community members and families gathered in front of Baltimore City Hall on November 15 to speak on behalf of four Baltimore Department of Public Works (DPW) employees who died in the line of duty since 2020: Donald Savoy, Trina Cunningham , Ronald Silver II and now, Timothy Cartwell. Advocates say more needs to be done to protect DPW workers.

Cartwell, the most recent tragedy, died on Friday, November 8, after being run over in a Baltimore City alley. He was transported to the Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland, where he succumbed to his fatal injuries.

The family members of Cartwell, Savoy and Silver came together to comfort each other because of their unfortunate shared experience.

Shantae Carroll, Timothy Cartwell’s sister-in-law, spoke on behalf of the family and shared that he was much more than his title in the DPW.

“My brother-in-law wasn’t just a garbage man – my brother-in-law was a man of courage, good deeds, love and support,” Carroll said. “He was kind, gentle and a man who stood up for what was right.”

She asked that everyone “respect these men and women who do a job every day for us – the people of Baltimore – a job that no one really wants to do.”

“I personally think they are the ones who deserve a high salary – I think they are the ones who deserve to be elevated and respected to the highest level of respect that can be given because they put their lives on the line. “Carroll said.

She urged all employees, regardless of position, of the Baltimore Department of Public Works to do the right thing and push for change to prevent the loss of another life.

“Do what is right. Fix what needs to be fixed. Don’t wait another second, don’t wait another minute, don’t wait another hour,” Carroll said. “We don’t know the day or time something can happen, a tragedy can happen and it will happen again. »

Thiru Vignarajah, who advises the Savoy and Silver families, spoke about the importance of making change and how it can’t happen fast enough.

“Here we have Mr. Savoy’s wife, Timothy Cartwell’s family, Ronald Silver II’s mother and family,” Vignarajah said. “Seeing them burying their heads in each other, I wondered: Does this make things better or does this make things worse? … That they are not alone.”

Community members expressed their gratitude to the sanitation workers and the hard work they do every day to help their community. They stressed that they deserved better working environments with safer protocols. Linda Batts, a former DPW employee and community activist, said the change is long overdue.

“Shortly after Mr. Silver’s loss, DPW’s Chief Information Officer committed to critically reviewing DPW’s policies and practices to ensure a safe workplace – as they dedicate themselves to serve the city of Baltimore,” Batts said.

“Yet less than three months after this statement, another DPW employee, Timothy Cardwell, died in the line of duty. Leaving his family to grieve and seek answers from a city that has already had three opportunities to correct dangerous practices. Let us be clear and not divided: we seem to be experiencing a pattern of neglect and failure on the part of leaders and supervisors charged with carrying out their duties. »
According to a statement released by DPW, “the circumstances surrounding Mr. Cartwell’s injuries are under investigation by the Baltimore Police Department.”