The schizophrenia governing Baltimore City policing is over. And the Baltimore City murder rate shows it.
It fell 18 percent last year to 234 killings, the lowest number since 1988 and about 50 fewer than the previous year.
The revolving door at the police commissioner’s office under former Mayor Martin O’Malley that saw a handful of police commissioners and practically as many interim commissioners during his tenure proved fatal to the residents of the city and vital to criminals who thrived without leadership at police headquarters. We’re thankful our new mayor, Sheila Dixon, understands leadership takes time to work and that zero tolerance wastes resources that should be targeted at getting violent criminals and their weapons off the street.
Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld said about half of those arrested for murder this year had previous arrests for gun charges. Because of that statistic, the department is tracking gun offenders and serving outstanding warrants for suspects with histories of gun violence. “I’d love to believe they’re reformed, and they’re going out and putting in job applications at IBM. But I know that bad guys with guns get guns again,” he said.
The department has not succeeded in lowering violent crime and the vast majority of murder cases remain unsolved — no doubt in part to the fear murderers instill in witnesses to stop them from speaking or testifying against them.
Mayor Dixon said the city can’t fix everything. “We can tighten our gun efforts. … But you have to look at what’s happening in those families. We can’t go in and raise their children for them.”
She’s right. But the police department must start encouraging officers to live in the neighborhoods they patrol to win the trust of residents and send criminals a message that they are always being watched and that their culture is not welcome.
The police department has refused numerous requests by The Examiner over the last two years to release the number of officers who live in the city. We do not know why the request is controversial unless statistics show most officers live in surrounding counties.
We applaud Bealefeld’s success. But if he really wants to permanently reduce all types of crime, moving officers into the city should be a top priority. Dixon could help Bealefeld and city safety by cutting property taxes in half to levels of the surrounding counties. That would give officers a real financial incentive to move here — and criminals the message to move out.
