Is there any thought of implementing a policy where minors would have to be accompanied by an adult after a certain time?

I know other malls have done this. It might be too politically charged for Baltimore.

Four Canadian naval officers were beaten in the inner harbor and this was not reported in the news media? What happened to them?

How can we allow these lies to be broadcasted?

We do NOT have enough resources to respond to police calls on the Charlie Shift and Adam Shift. Officers are stretched thin and are not high enough in number to address multiple threats at once downtown. This is a FACT that officers will not go on record to say.

The Inner Harbor is NOT safe nor is it safer than last year... Agg Assaults overall may have went down and I am sure thats a reported stat. What about unreported crime?

What about robberies? larcenies? Assaults that are not agg assaults? are those numbers up? Why are juveniles allowed to travel in large groups downtown, why are they allowed to openly flaunt their gang colors downtown?

This is why I like this guy. He just puts it out there and I don't know how you can discount anything he says.

This is something every major city in America deals with. This is something every major city in the WORLD deals with.

Allow bars to close later.
A later bar closing time allows people to trickle out sporatically when they want and not forced all at once while cramed out doors at the same exact time. = Aggression Other cities have a later bar closing time and have fewer fights due to this common sense approach.

Instead of city council members barking at the police department and sending up false statements to fool citizens into false saftey, make new laws that forbid openly expressing gang affiliation, colors and design patterns.

Increase officers on the permanent payroll, do not cut the police budget.

Make it a law that large groups of juveniles after 8pm can be prosecuted for a misdemeanor.

If we dont have the courge to take bold steps like this, we will always be at unsafe and utter futile compliants every year.

Cops can't force these gangs of kids to break up.....that's the quickest way to get fired from your job. Since they are juveniles there is no punishment for them. The police are useless, and the criminals know this. As usual, we'll do alot of handwringing and ignore the truth. Meanwhile the problem festers. As a white person, my option to to not go downtown. My friend was walking alone in Fells Point and was attacked by a group of black thugs. Funny thing is they didn't even want any money; they get a thrill out of attacking white people. He, like most victims, didn't report it because he knew nothing would be done. Notice how everyone claiming the city is 'safe' either carries a firearm or has constant security at their disposal.

I'm glad they're beefing up presence on the weekends, but what about the rest of the week? The tourists might not be here, but the rest of us who call downtown home certainly are. One of the assaults happened at 9:30 am on Wednesday, another at 4 pm on a Wednesday. This is obviously not just a weekend problem when people are "discharging onto city streets at 2:05 am." I agree that you can't blame it on the police, but we can't solve society's ills overnight. What the police can do is respond with an increased and sustained presence seven days a week.

Lareg groups of juveniles? Joe, ever hear of the Constitution? Ya know, freedom to assemble peaceably?

Not all groups of juveniles are out to cause trouble.

What is large? Four? Five? EIGHT? If on adult is with nine juveniles is that too much?

Cops CAN break up juveniles, saw it all the time down in the harbor when I worked there. But a cop got a little rough with a white skater punk and they had to hold back.

Somehow I guess if it were a black kid "Joe" and "Concerned" would have been alright with that.

Let the bars stay open later and people will stay out later. I mean people don't NEED to stay out until two and most places turn the lights on at one to let people know its time to roll.

One more thing, just what is the truth Concerned? I mean, what is the truth we are ignoring?

I agree with Ted. A much earlier curfew needs to be set for unaccompanied minors. These kids should not be out on the streets after dark anyway. Where are their parents? I would never in a million years let my children run around the streets of Baltimore and the Harbor alone at anytime, especially at night. I see absolutely nothing wrong with forcing kids to be with there parents if they want to go to the Harbor at night. Parental responsibility is the key issue here above everything else.

David,

Some of these kids don't have parents. They are dead, in prison, or addicted to drugs. The supervision, at BEST, comes from a grandparent or great-grandparent that is doing their best, but simply not up to the challenge of dealing with a teenager.

There's no parental responsibility because there are no parents at all.

blarg - I beleive that is the case for some, but regardless, they still shouldn't be allowed to run the streets alone. There are just too many of them causing trouble down there. I still believe an earlier curfew and an unaccompanied minor rule must be set for certain areas of the city, especially tourist areas like the Harbor. If this keeps up, Baltimore tourism dollars will go by the wayside.
Then we'll all be paying even more taxes.
As far as many of these kids not having parents around - well that's just another result of this wonderful liberal/socialist experiment that these people are now trapped in.

David,

As far as your first point, I agree. But claiming liberal/socialist policies are the problem is just ridiculous. The reason these people are imprisoned and addicted to drugs is a systematic oppression of the urban poor and black community.

Just look at the public housing documents from the 60's that talk about moving the "negro element into containable zones."

Liberal policies would pull drug offenders out of jail and into treatment, which would at least hopefully get them back on their feet and able to somewhat be parents.

blarg - I'm sorry but you couldn't be more wrong about liberal/socialist politics being the root cause of these problems. I have mentioned this on other blogs so I don't want to repeat myself time and time again but... "Liberals have trapped these people in a cycle of crime and poverty for generations. They are given just enough to barely scrape by. The liberals have stripped them of their personal responsibility. And what do the liberal politicians get in return - an almost 100% democrat voter turnout. They are enslaved in the liberal system for their votes. These poor people are shooting themselves in the foot and don't even know it. But they know no other way."
You are walking around with blinders on if you don't see this.
It's the same way with allowing these illegal immigrants into the country. "Yeah, come on over and get on our welfare system. By the way, Don't forget to vote Democrat".
The conservative way would be to help them improve themselves, get a better education, learn decent values and learn personal responsibility which would be passed on to the next generation. They would be helped along rather than given a free ride. Welfare parents breed welfare children. You see it everyday.
The liberal way has failed miserably, it's time for a new approach.

I fail to see how the conservative policies of cooping people up in public housing away from law-abiding white folks is a liberal/socialist trend.

And if you actually believe that liberals purposefully hold people in poverty so that they can get re-elected, I'm not sure what to say to you, other than get real.

But anyways, it is clear that we subscribe to different ideologies, and if there is anything we've learned from bitter polarizing politics over the past 25-30 years, there is no room for compromise. So I'm right, you're wrong, vice versa.

One thing people don't realize is how much generations of lead poisoning in certain Baltimore populations has contributed to our crime problems. Most of the housing stock in the poorest sections of the city is full of lead and not kept up to code. There are many studies now showing the link between childhood lead poisoning and later violent criminal acts.

Lead kills brain cells and affects not only children's ability to learn, but also to make good judgments. We have a brain damaged underclass here in Baltimore. Taking the lead problem more seriously and enforcing the housing code would help future crime-fighting efforts.

But in saying that, I am not making excuses for anyone. And for the first time ever living in Baltimore, I do not feel safe downtown at night (and not all that safe in the evening or on weekend days). I live in the city, but I am avoiding downtown for now except for going to work. Things genuinely seem a little out of control.

It's shame, because there are several places in downtown, midtown, and Mt. Vernon that I would like to go for dinner or happy hour. It's just not worth the risk of being jumped from behind by a group of thugs and having your head kicked around like a soccer ball.

It used to be that you could make a better risk calculation in this town based upon where you went and when, and whether you treated people with respect. But this random, unprovoked violence makes any reasonable risk calculation impossible. Sad.

I wonder how often Bealefeld brings his family to the Inner Harbor in he evening? Wantr to take a guess, and where does he live and why? He is another blowhard and City Hall apologist, he knows Queen Sheila pays his salary. He is a joke!

blarg - It's very simple "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day... Teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime".
All the liberals do is give these people a little fish at a time. This teaches no personal responsibility. These people actually expect to be takien care of by the government - so they do not do for themselves. Can't you see that?
It's the same in Africa after decades of free handouts. A friend of mine was very excited to go to Africa on a care mission but was disappointed to find the very same thing as here in Baltimore (and other cities in this country). He was appalled at the way the people there just wait for the handouts. They now expect this charity. They don't do for themselves at all. They say "What have you got for me today?". I don't think he'll be going back.
Free handouts do not work. Look at the environment it creates. People need to be taught responsibility and good values.
If I want my children to be independent, succesful and have good values, I have to teach them those things. I have to set up an environment that allows these good things to happen. What kind of adults would my children be if I just handed them everything without them having to do anything, let them just sit around watching TV all day long without going to school or doing homework, run wild in the streets until 2:00 in the morning, give them no responsibility at all, and allow them to talk trash and disrespect others and their property? They wouldn't turn into very productive adults, would they?
Well this what liberal/socialist politics is doing my friend.
If a parent does not work and is given a free ride - what kind of example is this for his child? What do you think will happen to this child? He'll follow in the same footsteps.
Now if the same parent is helped (or forced) to get off that "free ride" and gets up each day and goes to work, and pays his bills on his own - thus setting a good example for his child - what do you think that will do for his child? Things will start rolling in the right direction. That's what needs to start happening in cities across this country. Blacks need to get off the liberal food wagon and do for themselves. Even if they have to be forced into it.

All politics aside - My family has been going to the Harbor and surrounding area, for years and years - first, my wife and I, now with our two children. We visit the Science Center, the Aquarium, the Pavilions, the Amphitheater, Hard Rock Cafe, ESPN Zone and all of the other attractions the area has to offer. We love it down there. But we have noticed that the class of clientele has been going down year after year and over the past couple of years, it's really taken a dive. But it is still fairly decent during the day. We were down there a month or so ago and had a good time all day long but when it came nighttime, things got really out of hand. Scores of black teenagers basically took over the entire Harbor area. They’re behavior was beyond appalling. There were even beatings and stabbings right there in the center of things. People were scared for their lives. It was a horrendous scene. I will never take my family down there in the evening ever again because I hear that this is going on almost every night down there. They desperately need an earlier curfew and unaccompanied minor rule in that area!!!
The Commissioner may say it’s safe down there (which is an out and out lie) but I won’t risk the lives of my children to visit the area any longer – possibly during the day but never at night. Did you hear what I said “RISK THE LIVES OF MY CHILDREN”!!!
What a thing to have to say. It's saddening...

I still don't understand what you think is a better plan. I understand you want to teach people to "fish" but how do you do that?

It's easy to say what needs to be done, and everyone knows what you just said, and that is what the "liberals" are trying to do (socialists probably aren't, but we don't actually have too many of those around).

Nobody wants to give free handouts, everyone knows there has to be a better way. The trouble is finding that way, and the support to do it.

blarg - I guess we have some kind of miscomunication going on here because I see the giving of "free rides" and all of these other social welfare programs as the "Liberal way". A Conservative believes in personal responsibility and making your own way. And these people causing all of the problems in the city are a by-product of decades of these harmful, culture changing, social welfare programs.
And don't you think these politicians and leaders know there is a better way (as you have stated that everyone else does)? Why do you think that they don't something about these problems?

David--

I'm asking what it is you want them to do? Cut these people off completely? Might be a good lesson, but it will only worsen crime.

"Teach Responsibility." OK, how?

blarg - First off, I asked you why don't our leaders do anything to solve these issues? Why do you think they allow this to go on?

The state/city needs to adopt the a concealed carry law similar to that in Florida whose program motto is "equalizing the unequal". What's interesting is the number of states with reciprocity to the law in Florida. Of the 50 states, only 17 do not allow reciprocal carry privileges with of course Maryland being one of them.

Perhaps a work camp where these kids are forced to do labor benefiting the state would deter this vile behavior.

But I do feel that it is time to allow Maryland citizens to carry weapons.

David,

I think they are trying to do something. I'm certainly trying to do something.

What is it you think they should do differently? Specifically? How do you teach people to fish, how do you teach them responsibility, how do you make them proper parents if they are addicted to drugs or in prison? How do you educate kids that have no supervision at home? How do you reduce crime by not treating addiction in prisons?

How, How, How? People are trying, it's easy to say "they are wrong, they need to fix the problem." You've been saying that all along.

How do you do ACTUALLY do it?

blarg - First off, "They" (the ruling class of this country) are not doing anything "real" to get to the root of these problems and change the culture that has been evolving for decades. If you think otherwise, you are fooling yourself. They do just enough to satisfy you liberals that they are trying - that they are doing all that they can. But they are really doing nothing. Why do you think that is? Do I need to spell it out for you?
At this point, if you really wanted to solve these issues - if you really wanted to invoke change - you'd have to take some seriously drastic steps. And that is just not happening, is it? Why is that? Again, do I need to spell it out for you?