Mayoral hopefulls say little on crime
With 43 days left to the mayoral campaign, one usually hot topic appears to be strangely in the background -- crime.
Reporters Julie Scharper and Justin Fenton visited the Erdman Shopping Center, where a delivery man was killed in a robbery earlier this year, to hear people's thoughts. One man showed off his knife wound and complained that his prison record kept him from finding a job. Another woman said, "All you hear, all day is ambulances and police cars, ambulances and police cars. Somebody got hurt. Somebody got killed."
Northeast Baltimore has become one of the violent police districts, and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake visited this very shopping center just before assuming office. The area hasn't improved much.
Plans to curtail vary among the candidates -- one wants to tax bullets and reduce penalties for marijuhana; another doesn't believe the stats from the the cops and wants an audit; a third wants more drug treatment beds; a fourth wants says more jobs are the key; the mayor wants to hire another 350 officers.
Categories: City Hall, Confronting crime, Northeast Baltimore
Comments
In fairness to the Pols...
as there is so damned little they can actually do about crime, the less said the better.
Posted by: MrRational | August 1, 2011 1:44 PM
Instead of looking at employment, taxation, or statistics, how about investing money into programs to help give the youth of Baltimore more opportunities to engage in rather then engaging and contributing to the crime.
What about building art centers, music centers, educational buildings, athletic teams (to help eliminate hostilities among the youth).
People are going to keep contributing to the violence and crime in Baltimore, unless they are given a reason and opportunity not to.
So, money should be going towards bigger projects, to help relieve violence and crime, and work towards preventing violence and crime in the future.
Such projects have been created in other cities in America, and have proven effect.
It's time for some real results, not just numbers.
Posted by: JackieJS | August 1, 2011 4:28 PM
Thank you I come first hand I'm from northeast n it's no pals centers no free indoor courts nuffin wat else is it to do but look at the older drug dealers n killers to a young person and thats there role models now northeast is a jungle now wit a corrupt northeastern district no tellin wat can happen but that's the day n life of the youth n zone 18
Posted by: Dante | August 1, 2011 7:58 PM