Another violent weekend
Another Monday, another death toll to tally on the streets of Baltimore: 13 shot, three dead.
Concerned about the violence, Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III ordered his commanders to the streets and saturated neighborhoods with cops. The shootings, including two by his officers, continued.
Here's the opening of Annie Linskey's story in this morning's paper. It reads much like the opening to the story in Sunday's paper, and in stories in papers from the past several weeks:
Baltimore endured a bloody Sunday morning with three people shot and a fourth killed within two hours, police said. Later in the day a police officer shot a man in the leg, the second police-involved shooting of the weekend.
That meant 13 people were shot over the weekend — three fatally. Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III plans to meet with commanders Monday morning to assess their violence prevention strategy.
The commissioner had pumped up police presence in the city's Eastern District and other hot spots on Saturday, after a series of shootings left two men dead and five others wounded Friday night and early Saturday morning.
The extra shifts were called amid a budget crisis that has caused deep cuts to all city departments and forced the police to vastly decrease overtime. Police commanders, who are not paid for overtime, were also put on duty throughout the weekend.
Tonight at the Southeastern District police station, worried residents of Upper Fells Point, Butcher's Hill and Patterson Park are to meet with police to discuss a series of beatings in the area. In some instances, groups of teens and young adults have robbed and assaulted people near their homes. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, East Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, Police shootings, Southeast Baltimore, Top brass
Comments
This is a scary situation when even the police (our government) are out of ideas.
Posted by: Carole | August 16, 2010 8:58 AM
Yeah that's a lot but as they say Bodymore Murderland ain't no joke shorty!
Posted by: ny earl | August 16, 2010 1:27 PM
baltimore its time we take our streets back, stop messing around and demand prisons be build and these people be locked up for longer periods for less money. build a cell, give 3 meals a day and spind pennies a day treating a prision as punishment as it once was. Lock people up, punish them with hard labor and keep them wanting to no go back!!!! Take the streets back, demand no longer to live in an Irag city, lock these animals up!!!
Posted by: ALLEN | August 16, 2010 4:39 PM
I am a hard working, tax payer who lives in Baltimore City. Year after year, month after month, weekend after weekend, I get disgusted hearing about all of the city violence. It's typically worse during the summer months b/c the miscreants who perpetrate these crimes seem to thrive during the heat and humidity. When someone doesn't value human life, it doesn't bother them to kill someone at will. Our gov't needs to make jails LESS comfortable b/c the repeat offenders live BETTER in jail than they do when they are free to roam the streets. Our gov't needs to talk to other cities to see what they've done to reduce crime or our city will continue to bleed...
Posted by: Kim | August 16, 2010 4:54 PM
When an animal is a threat to society, we euthanize it for the sake of public safety. This is a perfectly reasonable and sensible thing to do.
Yet when we have animals who terrorize people every single day in Baltimore City, we do nothing. Euthanizing these animals is one way to STOP this crap once and for all! Meanwhile you can all continue to have your candlelight vigils, block meetings, church rallys, prayer vigils, political rallys, etc......and nothing will change. When will people wake up?
Posted by: Tod | August 16, 2010 8:43 PM
The city is a prisoner of its demographics. I'm afraid that says it all.
What would be interesting, though probably not productive, would be to study a group of similar post-industrial cities within certain size and demographic perameters and see whether any of them has significantly better per capita crime numbers.
If something jumps out, see if a reason can be found that's repeatable. Otherwise, recogninize that the best a city like this can do is low-level maintenance
Posted by: John | August 16, 2010 10:43 PM
Ah, another weekend in Bulletmore Murderland...
So, how's that "gun control" thing working out for you , Gov. O'Malley, Mayor Rawlings-Blake, and Commissioner Bealefeld?
Let the good, law-abiding people of MD defend themselves. The Supreme Court has ruled that the police have no duty or legal obligation to provide protection for individuals (Warren v. DC). Don't force the fine people of MD to be helpless victims anymore.
You wonder where all the gang-bangers are coming from? They are fleeing VA and PA, because the law-abiding citizens there can legally defend themselves.
The criminals know that MD is a "Victim Disarmament Zone". Baltimore is a target-rich environment for thugs and criminals.
Self-defense is a FUNDAMENTAL human right. Stop the madness. The people of MD deserve this fundamental right more than ever. Let the People defend their lives, and their loved ones. Stop creating victims, MD. Let the GOOD people defend their own lives. Please...
Posted by: Richard | August 17, 2010 3:23 PM