Wow...a racial angle. The dead horse takes another beating.

In fairness, let's consider the efforts of Mr. Young's audience at racial scapegoating to be legitimate rather than grandstanding.

Put the police reports up for public scrutiny. Identify the race of the victims, suspects, and witnesses.

Correlate that information with whatever entertainer had been booked on the evening of the crimes in question - who is their main target audience?

Finally, identify the main outlet(s) for ticket sales - radio, print, website(s), etc. Who are club owners trying to attract?

If this assembly of factual material points anywhere other than clubs that cater to a black clientele, then Mr. Young and his listeners might have a point and the police will have some explaining to do.

If however the facts point inward at black-on-black violence...what would the black community have the police do? Prize diversity over safety?

Why does everything has to be based on race? the club and the promoter should take some responsibilty in what acts are booked and what kind of crowd the acts bring to the club. Money is the nain motivation on why the promoter brings certain acts because the younger crowd 18-25 spend more money than the 30 and over. The events that should be coming downt town should be class acts or jazz shows comedy r&b etc. Shows that enrich the citys downtown life without the violence. Simple change the acts or groups the crowd changes and certain acts that u know draw violence need to be revaluated and put places where there are not businesses or side streets to hide on and can be easily monitored by police.

What a joke, get over it Baltimore’s majority population is black so logic tells you there may be more black owned businesses padlocked. Baltimore needs to padlock Bill's Bar at the corner of Ramsay and S Calhoun, hotbed of drug activity and other issues with the owner. This is a white business, so no complaints from this white man if padlocked

This seems really silly. One of the most high profile padlocks in recent years was at Linden Liquors near Res Hill. The owner is Asian. Perhaps the violent culture of hip hop and gangs has something to do with these closings? Or the fact that the promoters refuse to take responsibility or even discourage violence, afraid to lose precious "street cred."

This is the best line: "I know downtown is interested in gentrification and wants to clear us out." Really? That is some paranoid nonesense. Welcome to post racial America, lady-- we have a black president. Get over yourself.

BTW.. I am not a racist and am a strong supporter of equal rights. This is just out of control, though.

re-capthca: dead horse

Velvet Rope is in a location that is pretty much cursed. There was trouble there many moons ago when it was The Bank. One of their promoters/DJs turned up dead.. the case has never really been solved to satisfaction of the deceased's family.

The padlock powers are used racially. The former Central District commander for years tried to close down Club Choices. The owners used to employ off duty police and had a relationship with the department, but the higher ups changed the regulations for officers and their ability to work off duty and this eliminated this as a resource for public safety support. Its almost like the police use this as a form of "mafia protection". You deal with us (BPD) and we will make your crime problems go away. Many of these clubs have private security, but they can only secure a small perimeter around the facility, which only goes a few feet from the front door. This means that anything that happens one block away or more they have no jurisdiction to address or they could be arrested by BPD, which has happened on several occasions.

I don't think that police should be the agency deciding who does/doesn't get padlocked, except possibly for short terms in emergency, like a Friday night riot and pad lock them until Tuesday. But there should be a judge or an administrative board (such as the Liquor Board) with that power to decide. It just isn't how our system works. Should cops decide jail time for criminals?

Everything seems to be based on race because it is. This may be hard for you to understand or even fathom but it is our reality, if you dont live it then I can understand how you dont see it, But the facts are that racism, profiling and prejudice is something we deal with 24/7. something as simple as walking to the store can turn into a criminal case with amazing ease.

and as far as this goes, It is well known that "they" dont want any urban clubs in downtown baltimore to taint there precious little harbor

As an avid clubgoer an someone who has experienced a lot of nightlife in Baltimore, there is a huge discrepancy between which clubs get shut down and which ones don't. I have seen continued violence at clubs with a majority white clientele and those clubs and bars are still open to this day, while people are in a rush to close down bars and clubs frequented by a majority black clientele.

If this policy was implemented fairly it would be an issue, but it isn't, and that is a fact.

We had mobs and gangs and helicopters overhead every weekend for a while and a doubleshooting that the crowd refused to let the police investigate at the Lithuanian Hall in recent years but nobody at the Liqour Board shut them down and the police were not willing to confront the Baltimore Lithuanian community, and the media wouldn't report about it, so it just continued. Finally, the concerts seem to have just moved to another venue. A padlock would have been a relief.

All this talk about race is a smokescreen put up by club owners who want to keep the money flowing into their pockets and it is perpetrated in this commentary section by self-styled activists who whose life was given meaning only as part of the struggle for civil rights and are lost in post-racial America. The real issue these vested interests are trying to obscure is that residential neighborhoods are being overrun by violent thugs. No one cares about the race of the man that randomly smashes his face as he comes out of his own apartment building, (which happens to have a club in the basement), he can only see the color of the blood dripping down his face.

Anyone who say's racism is dead must white. If you go over to Power Plant or Bourbon Street on the Thursday or Friday night you will see fights, public urination and underage drinking. But no police insight!! Just last week there was (2) stabbings at white club but did the Commissioner get on TV and threaten those clubs to close. He says just communicate and they will work with the club but I know personally that The Velvet Rope owners have been sending there weekly schedule to the Major in the area. Just because the Police say it's so doesn't make it so!! Baltimore wake up!! Racism is alive and kicking all the black night lifes tale!! Just say it he wants all black people to stay in the house and be good little.....! Just tell us where to go and then leave us alone.

It sounds like almost every neighborhood liquor store has drug dealing going on in and around of it... I for one would like Sherman's Liquors on Lafayette to be closed down. It is basically a front - what it really is is an open-air hangout for drug dealers.

Saturday night at the Power Plant. I and my party found we were the only Blacks present. Guess who got arrested? You got it. Guess why? One of us couldn't find a bathroom and went in an alley. Guess who was in the alley? Yep. Hiding cops. Unbelievable.