Peter Hermann started covering news for The Baltimore Sun in 1990, first in Anne Arundel County and, starting in 1994, reporting on the Baltimore Police Department. In 2001, he was assigned to Jerusalem as the Baltimore Sun's Middle East correspondent. He returned in 2005 as an assistant city editor overseeing crime coverage. In 2008, Peter returned to the beat as a daily reporter and blogger. A recent BBC report featured him in a segment on the harsh realities of covering crime in Baltimore.
Coverage will focus on crime trends, problems in neighborhoods in the city and elsewhere, profiles of victims and police officers and try to offer readers a fresh perspective on one of the most vexing issues facing Baltimore and its future.
Contributing to this blog is
Justin Fenton, who joined
The Sun in 2005 and has covered the Baltimore City Police Department and the criminal justice system since 2008. His work includes an investigation into Cal Ripken Jr.’s minor league baseball stadium deal with his hometown of Aberdeen, a three-part series chronicling a ruthless con woman, coverage of the killing of five Amish children at a schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pa., and a job swap with a British crime reporter to explore differences in crime-fighting.
A special report looking into how city police handle rape cases led to sweeping reforms that changed the way sexual assaults are investigated in Baltimore. He was recognized as the best reporter in Baltimore by the
City Paper in 2010 and by
Baltimore Magazine in 2011.
With the city in an all-hands-on-deck mode during the third powerful winter storm of the season, the Baltimore Police Department is keeping a patrol officer on a security detail outside former Mayor Sheila Dixon's Southwest Baltimore home.
Comments
Blah, Blah, Blah.
With all the temper baiting that went
on with her resignation, her retirement
salary and the reasons the book
says, those without sin cast the first
snowball, I'd say her home might
need a little protection?
Posted by: What Up Now? | February 10, 2010 7:19 PM
After reading thousands of negative comments, derogatory names, and the offensive language directed toward Mayor Dixon I am grateful that a police presence is still with her. Who knows what some of our fellow citizens will try to do because they vehemently disagree with the outcome of her plea deal. By keeping the police with her somebody finally gets it!!!
Posted by: CJones | February 10, 2010 9:52 PM
I THINK IT'S RIDICULOUS FOR HER TO STILL RECEIVE ANY BENEFITS!! SHE HAS ENOUGH MONEY TO PROTECT HERSELF!! SHE WASN'T CONCERNED WHEN SHE WAS STEALING OUR MONEY!! THERE ARE OTHERS THAT COULD NEED THE SERVICE OF THIS OFFICER!! I BET SHE'S GRINNING EAR TO EAR HAVING ALL THIS SERVICE FROM THE CITY SHE STOLE FROM!! WHAT A DISGRACE!!!!
Posted by: MARGIE GARZA | February 11, 2010 7:14 AM
She has stole, therefore, she should have went to jail like the rest of the people who do the crime. She has been given special rights which is not due her. She is now a ordinary citizen with a record. If she has a police car watching over her, then everyone that did do the crime and has been let out should have police potection. Let her pay for a private security with her $83,000 a year pension. She has stole enough, why are we still allowing her to take advantage of the citizens of Baltimore when she would not even apologize for her incompetencey as major.
Posted by: Betty Price | February 11, 2010 8:32 AM
Is this a joke?
She's a private citizen now. If she feels an imminent threat she can call 911 like the rest of us would need to if threatened. Do the police post cars outside of witnesses houses in this city? No. Do they respond to credible calls, no. But a disgraced EX-civil servant gets round-the-clock protection.
It's disgraceful.
Posted by: Dan | February 12, 2010 9:03 AM