Police commissioner, mayor talk guns on radio
Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III has been making the media rounds to talk up the crime reduction -- interview with Baltimore Sun, news conference -- and this afternoon he hit the radio talk show circuit, appearing on WYPR's Midday with Dan Rodricks.
I listened in the car, so no direct quotes, but Bealefeld's main thrust was going after gun offenders, and he talked about a fresh start with new State's Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein and how he hoped to do more with robberies and targeting offenders with firearms.
He assured some callers that he was not about locking everyone up -- his officers are arresting tens of thousands fewer people over the past several years -- but he does not apologize for removing gun offenders from the streets. He said a small number of gunmen are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime in the city.
On Wednesday, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (above in photo with Bealefeld, taken by The Sun's Amy Davis) is scheduled to appear on the Mickey, Amelia, and Spiegel Morning Show on 98 Rock. She plans to talk about increasing penalties for criminal gun possession during the legislative session that begins next week in Annapolis. The show is to air live at 7:40 a.m. on 97.9 FM.
In a statement, the mayor noted a figure repeated by Bealefeld on his radio show -- 44 percent of Baltimore’s homicide suspects in 2010 had a prior gun arrest. Yet 82 percent of all jail time imposed by Baltimore’s criminal courts for gun offenders charged with these crimes was suspended and the average amount of jail time served by misdemeanor gun offenders is only four months.
Bealefeld talked about the revolving door of justice and how it's frustrating that not only his cops keep arresting the same people, but that witnesses and victims keep seeing the same people. He said many victims and witnesses are too scared or unwilling to cooperate, not because they don't trust the cops, but because they don't trust the judicial system to convict the people being arrested.
Here are some telling stats from the New Year's weekend provided today from city police:
19 Firearms recovered
28 Arrests
"While many of the above incidents were related to 'celebratory' gunfire, many others were the result of proactive patrol as the new year has brought a renewed and re-energized commitment to pursuing 'bad guys with guns,'" said Det. Kevin Brown, a department spokesman.
Categories: City Hall, Confronting crime, Top brass
Comments
Why 98 rock? I don't think most listeners of this station are the ones carrying guns. SRB might want to go on 92Q and address the issue. Just saying.
Posted by: Mr Page | January 4, 2011 5:47 PM