Baltimore Police Commissioner went on the Marc Steiner show on Morgan State University's WEAA-Radio and confronted his critics. Listen to show here.

On police protecting their own: "One of things I've tried to do is avoid all these blanket indictments and over-generalizations. We should be constantly testing and challenging ourselves in the community. What kind of service do we provide or don't we provide? What kind of professionalism do we have?"

He noted the arrests of officers in a towing scandal and reminded people that the department lured them to the training academy under a ruse that their guns needed to be checked and then busted them. He said that despite rumors the arrest plan had been compromised, all but two officers showed, proving to him that the rumors were false. The other two had been out of town.

But he said he felt there were legitimate concerns about what sergeants and lieutenants were doing while officers were directing unsuspecting motorists to a towing company not approved by the city, but one that was paying off cops for the extra business. "If they were really paying attention to their people, why wouldn't they know?" he asked.

Continue reading "Bealefeld defends department on Steiner" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: City Hall, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Downtown, Neighborhoods, Police shootings, Top brass
        

In addition to the 91-year-old woman who stabbed to death in her Northeast Baltimore house Wednesday evening, city police are investigating several shootings.

The latest shooting occurred this morning at Monastery and Frederick avenues in Southwest Baltimore. Police said an adult male was shot in the side. Shorlty after midnight, an adult male was shot multiple times in the 2300 block Allendale Road in Northwest Baltimore.

About 10 p.m., police reported a man shot in the back in the 1700 block of Presstman St., in West Baltimore. in Sandtown-Winchester.

Details were slim on these cases this morning. We'll have more as information develops.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods, Northeast Baltimore, Northwest Baltimore, Southwest Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

National Night Out has become a big community event, getting residents and cops together to take back the streets. Below is a list of events in the city and the counties, scheduled for today, Aug. 2

National Night outs:

Baltimore City

Baltimore County

Harford County

Anne Arundel County

Howard County

I could only find one in Carroll County, in Eldersburg. Here is a link to details. If anyone knows of more here, please let me know and I'll post.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Carroll County, City Hall, Confronting crime, East Baltimore, Howard County, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, Northwest Baltimore, South Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, Southwest Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

[Photo credit - Amy Davis, The Sun]

James Mosher Baseball, Maryland's oldest continuously operating league for African-American children, started in 1960 to keep kids occupied in the summer. But after decades of play, its fields need help and the group is looking to to refurbish them so it can continue to provide alternatives in an area described by the city police commissioner as a "hotbed" for gang activity, reports The Sun's Liz F. Kay.

The group has raised two-thirds of the $120,000 needed for the project, which would add irrigation, renovate the two diamonds and replace the bleachers, as well as aerate and treat the outfield areas.

"We wanted to be able to provide players with a field where it can be as true to baseball as possible," said Reginald Exum, James Mosher's special projects coordinator.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III. said the neighborhood has been "like a hotbed of gang activity" for the past few years. "Unfortunately some young men over there are bent on destroying each other," Bealefeld said.

But Mosher baseball "is probably the biggest effort in trying to provide an alternative for young boys and even some young girls on those teams in that community," he said. "It's huge what they do."

Bealefeld praised the volunteers who provide "real mentoring" to players. "The James Mosher guys are just heroes," the commissioner said.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Neighborhoods, West Baltimore
        

UPDATE: About three hours after the police commissioner left the community meeting, the Northeast District had its seventh homicide of the year. It occurred in the Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello neighborhood, an area of particular concern. There have now been 21 slayings in the city this year, one more than noted below.

At times, the city's top cop resembled a pitch-man selling 25-year lows in homicides and other glowing crime stats to people living in an area with a spike in kilings this year (see The Sun's homicide map).

At one point, the Northeast District accounted for one-third of all this year's slayings. Now, iit's slightly less, with six of the city's 20 killings this year. It's tied with the Southern for the most. So you might forgive the residents if they were a bit skeptical (I'll have more about the meeting in Friday's Crime Scenes column).

But they politely allowed Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III to make his presentation during a packed meeting at Good Samaritan Hospital. The top cop is a bit frustrated that few people seem to know of the crime drops made in the past couple of years, even as his cops arrest tens of thousands of fewer people. It's targeted enforcement of gun and violent offenders over street corner sweeps.

Bealefeld pounded away that the image of Baltimore remains a deadly one -- "People are killed in the city every day," he quoted an oft-heard remark. He started at his audience and said bluntly, "It's a lie." The city went nine days once this year without a single killing, and non-fatal shootings are down from more than 750 in 2000 to 450 last year.

Yet Bealefeld lamented that more people know arcane stats about football and baseball players they follow than about the crime stats that impact the values of their homes.  "We don't know the stats that drives the engine that creeps peole out about the city," he said.

Still, Bealefeld acknowledged a problem in the Northeast and that it's no longer confined to one small area in the southern part of the district. "A lot more needs to be done in this area," he told the group. "It's unacceptable under anybody's standards. And it's moving -- it's moving east and west and we need to do something about it."

Residents peppered Bealefeld with questions but few demanded specific answers about the nature of the killings or what plans police had in place. The group appeared unanimous in its support of promoting the district's deputy major, Darryl DeSousa, to majoor, to replace the commander who just retired.

Bealefeld wouldn't give them an answer, despite repeated attempts, but said he will name a new district commander in a matter of weeks. After the commissioner left, DeSousa told his supporters, "I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Neighborhoods, Northeast Baltimore
        

Police and city officials have to fight crime on two fronts -- reality and perception. It hardly matters if the crime declines statistically if residents feel unsafe.

And perception can come from various places, such as the media -- shows like The Wire -- or a particular experience. I hear every week from people who think the police helicopter flying over their neighborhood is evidence of decline. One holdup on the block can mean crime is out of control, even if holdups went down 80 percent.

That brings me to Chiara Mapelli, a 15-year-old from Italy. Her family was visiting DC and decided to come up to Baltimore for a few days. But wrong directions on their GPS led them to East Baltimore where she, her sister, mom and dad were, according to her e-mail, "frightened of everything they saw."

I'm presenting her email below, knowing it will spark plenty of debate. I have no idea how they missed the Inner Harbor and ended upon east Lafayette Avenue, or if they actually witnessed three purse snatchings, or a rampant drug trade, or even "prostitution everywhere."

But does it matter? This was this girl's perception of our city and it was enough to send her family speeding back to DC's Georgetown neighborhood. Whether or not her account is accurate, it's doubtful that her next trip to the U.S. will include Baltimore.

Here is her letter:

Continue reading "A wrong turn, and a visitor's dim view of the city" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
Categories: City Hall, Confronting crime, East Baltimore, Neighborhoods
        

An observant homeowner who spotted his stolen camera being sold on Craiglist led Baltimore police to an undercover sting, a take-down at a coffee shop in Canton and an investigation that closed a series of burglaries in the neighborhood.

Sunday's Crime Scenes column walks you through the investigation and profiles the suspect, who police said had decorated his apartment with looted items that he hadn't yet sold:

Inside, Layton wrote in court documents, he saw Driver's stolen X-Box hooked up to the television set. On a shelf, the officer said, he saw the victim's stolen bottles of gin and vodka, lined up in an "orderly fashion," as if they had been there for months.

The detective also saw a pile of jewelry, cell phones and computer equipment, and over the next few weeks, he painstakingly matched the items to four other burglaries in Canton between June and January in which thousands of dollars of items were reported stolen.

A license plate number etched on the back of a cell phone led him to the victim of one burglary. A number in another phone's directory labeled "Dad" led him to the father of another victim. A home phone number found on a portable computer drive led to a third.

Court documents reveal a series of burglaries that in some cases required several pages of police reports to list the missing items — laptop computers, video game consoles, expensive watches, guitars, iPods, smart phones, cameras and handbags.

And that's just the stuff you'd expect to be stolen in a burglary.

The list of missing loot includes steaks taken from a freezer along with a George Foreman grill. There's a stack of missing children's videos — unopened Blu-ray discs of "Wall-E," "A Bug's Life," "Cars" and "Monsters, Inc." — and videos for older folks, such as a boxed set of "Seinfeld" and the second season of "Big Love."

From one house, an engraved $1,300 Swiss Tag Heuer watch was stolen. From another house, a $2 box of Rice-A-Roni was taken from a cupboard.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods, Southeast Baltimore
        

From Baltimore Sun reporter Tricia Bishop:

The murder trial of Cleaven L. Williams Jr. — who's accused of fatally stabbing his pregnant wife outside a Baltimore courthouse in 2008 — began Friday morning with attorneys arguing whether the autopsy photos could be shown to jurors.

Veronica L. Williams was stabbed seven times in her face and neck, and the images taken by the medical examiner are described as graphic, showing wounds stretched wide to measure their depth.

"They're very shocking," said defense attorney Melissa Phinn. She contends that the photographs would prejudice jurors against her client, while prosecutor Kevin Wiggins said they are necessary to show "the extent of the injuries." The judge said he would allow them to be presented, with portions blocked out.

You may remember this case for another reason: the suspect was shot by a Baltimore police officer moments after the stabbing, and a witness urged the cop to fire again. The stabbing occurred just as the victim left court to obtain a protective order.

And later, a police commander was accused of sending text messages to the suspect, who was well known as a community activist and who went on police crime walks, as police were trying to serve an arrest warrant on him. The deputy major was later cleared but police studied whether the warrant for Williams had been handled outside normal procedures.

Reporter Melissa Harris, who is no longer at The Sun, wrote a long story on the Williams case.It includes this chilling account of the stabbing and the shooting of the suspect, picking up just as the victim was leaving court on East North Avenue:

Continue reading "Trial begins of community leader charged in wife's death" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, East Baltimore, Neighborhoods
        

"He smirked at me."

That's how Baltimore Police Officer Todd Strohman described the gunman just before he
pulled the trigger, putting a bullet into his shoulder, a bullet that will remain inches above his heart for the rest of his life.

The cop had another message for state lawmakers who make up the Senate's Judiciary
Committee contemplating tougher guns laws proposed by the city (see city's website describing proposed legislation): If the proposed laws had been on the books, the person charged with shooting him wouldn't have been on the street.

The audience applauded Strohman and the lawmakers wished him well. There was no sense
in grilling him on the necessity of enhanced gun legislation. The man charged in the crime had served two years of a 12-year sentence for armed robbery (the judge had suspended six of the years) and had been charged with five previous gun crimes. He had gotten out a little more than two weeks before the shooting on North Calvert Street.

"Seventeen days after he gets out, he shoots one of our cops," said Deputy Police Commissioner Anthony Barksdale.

See more on the gun hearing:

Continue reading "City, county leaders press for tougher gun laws" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, City Hall, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Crime elsewhere, Kenneth Harris trial, Neighborhoods, Police shootings, Top brass
        

Baltimore State's Attorney Gregg Bernstein said Wednesday that he wants to assign assistant state's attorneys to geographic areas to track repeat offenders plaguing their communities.

Prosecutors currently focus on specific types of offenses, such as drug cases, general felonies or homicides. The community prosecution model would divide the city into zones, with a group of prosecutors working more collaboratively with police to track and build cases against targeted individuals.

"They would be focusing on all crimes in that particular area," Bernstein told members of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. "The goal is to have them prosecute defendants, not cases." 

Such a model is used in cities across the country, including Philadelphia, where Bernstein said he recently met with District Attorney Seth Williams. It is also done with varying effort in places from Manhattan and Brooklyn to Anne Arundel County, and was tried out for 18 months in a Baltimore neighborhood in 2003 using grant money.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, Neighborhoods
        

Jamie Smith Hopkins over at the Real Estate Wonk blog has put up a post on a group that named South Baltimore's Locust Point the safest large neighborhood in the city.

She wants to know if people agree (weigh in here).

Locust Point, a neighborhood with deep blue-collar roots (see map here), has a location alongside Baltimore's waterfront that has brought it high-end residential development in recent years.

WalletPop, which relied on NeighborhoodScout for the data and analysis, says it ranked the safest neighborhood of at least 1,000 people in each of the nation's largest cities. Those neighborhoods tended to be either wealthy or "more modest income neighborhoods with many tightly-knit working class families."

The chances of becoming a crime victim in a year of living in Locust Point are 1 in 84, better odds than in 70 percent of U.S. neighborhoods, WalletPop said.

I know one thing going for Locust Point is that it's located on a peninsula and there is only one major road in and out -- Fort Avenue. Residents believe that keeps outside criminal agitators out, because it's too easy to for them to become trapped.

This year, a Locust Point man was killed. His body was found in a shallow grave in Patapsco Valley State Park in Anne Arundel County. One of the suspect's was from neighboring South Baltimore.

That was the neighborhood's only murder thus far this year (police determined the victim was killed by blunt force trauma at a Locust Point residence). See the Baltimore Sun's homicide map for more details.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Neighborhoods, South Baltimore
        

Baltimore's mayor has unveiled a new plan to more quickly deal with the thousands of vacant houses that pockmark the city's landscape, such as at left in this picture by The Sun's Jed Kirschbaum shortly after a fire ravaged a string of vacants in West Baltimore. The houses not only spread blight, but attract crime, and as we recently saw in West Baltimore, can feed the flames of fire consuming entire city blocks.

The Sun's Julie Scharper wrote:

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she would accelerate redevelopment of Baltimore's more than 30,000 vacant properties by cutting bureaucracy and speeding the sales of city-owned properties.

"Vacant houses are more than just an eyesore," Rawlings-Blake said at a Wednesday morning news conference. "Just ask someone who lives next door to one."

Vacant properties constitute one of the city's most pernicious problems, depressing home values and blighting the landscape. Officials have counted 16,000 unoccupied buildings, which harbor vagrants, attract vermin and pose fire hazards. The city owns 10,000 of the vacant properties, on 4,000 of which sit empty structures.

Last month, The Sun's Jessica Anderson brought us to Calhoun Street, where two simultaneous four-alarm arson fires on Sept. 8 destroyed two sides of a city block and taxed the Baltimore Fire Department to the point it needed unprecedented help from neighboring counties. Fire trucks from as far away as Washington responded.

The mayor's plan was already in the words when the fires broke out, but they served as yet another reminder of one of Baltimore's most persistent urban ills, and one that stands out to anyone who drives through these areas.

Here are the mayor's prepared remarks on her plan for vacant houses:

Continue reading "New plan to combat city vacants" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: City Hall, Confronting crime, Downtown, East Baltimore, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, Northwest Baltimore, South Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

I love a good puzzle, and I found a strange one while out for a walk this weekend. I usually bypass graffiti memorializing murder victims -- there's simply too much of it in the city. But one tag on the underside of a bridge caught my attention simply because of its remote location.

I found it on a bridge abutment next to a path in Wyman Park, between Hampden and the west side of the Johns Hopkins University campus. It marked the death of a "Homeboy," which doesn't exactly narrow it down, on Aug. 31 of this year.

I didn't recall any killings in this little scene urban area. The "RIP Homeboy" was written in black in a cloud next to a tag written in large red and yellow letters that spelled "puzzler." I'm guess that's the nickname for the person who wrote the graffiti. What I don't know is whether someone added the "RIP to the tag after it had been completed or if it's part of the complete piece. Does the victim have a connection to the person who did the work?

I checked our homicide map and found one killing on this date -- Nathanial Santiago, 31, who was shot and killed Aug. 31 in the 4100 block of Harris Ave. in Northeast Baltimore.

According to the brief description on the map, Santiago was entering an apartment building when he was approached by two men and got into a fight and then was shot.

I'd love to hear more details on this tag and it's connection to an Aug. 31 death.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore
        

For those of you trying to keep track, here's a list of violence in Baltimore that started Friday afternoon and went through Monday morning. A full account of the mayhem can be found here. There have now been 171 slayings in the city this year, compared with 176 at this time last year:

Friday, 2:30 p.m.: Sterling Palmer, 78, found fatally stabbed inside his house in the 2600 block of Edison Highway.

Saturday, 12:01 a.m.: Man, 51, found fatally shot in the stomach in the 3100 block of Grantley Ave.

Saturday, 2:19 a.m.: A 42-year-old man reported being shot in the ankle while being robbed in the 300 block of N. High St. at Old Town Mall. He walked into the Central District police station on East Baltimore Street to report his wounds.

Saturday, 8:15 p.m.: Daryll Hood, 22, fatally shot in the head one block from his home in the 4700 block of Shamrock Ave. in Belair-Edison.

Saturday, 8:53 p.m.: Travis Lane, 19, found with bullet wounds to the side and chest in an alley off the 3500 block of N. Calvert St. in Oakenshawe. Police say this shooting is related to the shooting 20 minutes earlier in Belair-Edison. Lane was pronounced dead at Union Memorial Hospital.

Sunday, 1:42 a.m.: Dennis Waddell, 33, fatally shot in the 1600 block of Warwick Ave. in Coppin Heights. A 28-year-old was shot and wounded in same incident.

Sunday, 4:47 p.m.: Police find a man in his early 50s dead inside a vacant rowhouse in the 800 block N. Fremont Ave. in Harlem Park. A cause of death has not yet been determined.

Sunday, 6 p.m.: A 35-year-old man was stabbed in the 3800 block of Rogers Ave. in Pimlico. Police said he had been mowing his lawn at his house when a man got out of a car and stabbed him in the chest, arm and back. He was being treated at an area hospital.

Sunday, 9 p.m.: A man shot in the ankle in the 3300 block of Ingleside Ave.

Monday, 9:25 a.m.: An adult male is shot in the head and killed in back of rowhouses in the 2600 block of Shirley Ave. in Park Heights.

Source: Baltimore Police Department

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, East Baltimore, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, Northwest Baltimore, South Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

Six shooting this weekend left five people dead and three more injured.

Friday, just before midnight: 46-year-old man fatally shot inside a house in the 3000 block of Pressbury St.

Saturday, 12:01 a.m. A 51-year-old man fatally shot in the stomach in the 3100 block of Grantley Ave.

Saturday, early morning: A 33-year-old man was shot and killed on Warwick Avenue in Coppin Heights. A 28-year-old man was shot and injured in the same incident.

Saturday morning: A 42-year-old man said he had been robbed and shot at Old Town Mall. He walked into the Central District police station and was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Saturday, 8:15 p.m.: 22-year-old man fatally shot in the head in the 4700 block of Shamrock Ave. in Belair-Edison.

Saturday,  8:53 p.m.: man fatally shot in an alley in the 3500 block of N. Calvert St. in Oakenshawe. Police say this shooting might be related to the one on Shamrock.

Sunday, 9:30 p.m.: man shot in the ankle in the 3300 block of Ingleside Ave. 

On Sunday evening, Baltimore police said a man was stabbed on Rogers Avenue and that he was being treated at a hospital. And Sunday morning in Anne Arundel County, a man was reported shot and wounded in Severn.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, Northwest Baltimore, South Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

The caretaker of Ark Church, Milton Hill is gone -- killed two months ago, police say, for his scooter -- but on Tuesday the parishioners joined with the cops who joined with the neighbors to spruce up a park near the church that had become an open-air drug market.

At left, Monica Lopossay captures Carolyn Jasper cleaning up the park.

It's one of those stories we've seen time and time again. Even the residents are a bit skeptical -- Carolyn Pitt told reporter Jessica Anderson, "They are doing a great job, but we don't know how long it's going to last."

Just Monday on East Preston Street, a man and woman were shot, and the Eastern District now leads the city with 32 slayings so far this year. And so the community joined forces as part of "Operation Good Faith" to clean up Aiken Playground.

The question remains, as always, what happens next. Hours later in West and Northeast Baltimore, three more people were shot.

As Jessica wrote:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, East Baltimore, Neighborhoods
        

Baltimore is indeed a small town.

Just read Justin Fenton's story today on how a shooting victim met the man who shot him as they both recovered in a rehab center. Cops never learned of the confession from suspect to victim until after both had died from their injuries.

The result -- a shooting case cleared but another name from the past to add to this years murder count.

Here's Justin's enticing opening:

It took 21 years for a bullet to kill Michael Chase.

It took 14 years for a bullet to kill Franklin Spencer.

And it took both of their deaths — six years apart — for investigators to figure out what one had to do with the other.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Neighborhoods
        

Okay, so the election is over -- though ironically the fight for the city's top prosecutor trudges along -- but isn't soon time to pick up the campaign signs? I know it's only two days since we (well, less than a third of us) went to the polls, but these signs are already feeling like the lawn chairs that guarded spaces long after the snow storms pulled away.

Trouble is, unlike the lawn chairs, which are technically illegal, there is nothing to prevent a trounced candidate from keeping his sign up, well, forever. Counties and other local jurisdictions tried with a variety of laws to force candidates to remove their signs within a week of elections or not put them up more than two months before.

At left is a scene on York Road just north of Northern Parkway where a day after the election campaign signs were already in disrepair.

But a federal judge ruled three years that's a violation of free speech. Zoning laws can restrict the sign and somewhat the placement of signs, but it can't single campaign signs out for special treatment. Government can't regulate the speech, and that includes how long the speech can be posted.

Many jurisdictions, including Baltimore City and Baltimore County, have the restrictive laws on the books, but the Attorney General's Office warns the local governments that they can't be enforced. I checked with both the city and the county, and indeed, they're aware of the ruling.

So if you want to complain about signs, call your local candidate.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods
        

My new colleague over at the Midnight Sun blog, Erik Maza, reports that the owners of a bar where a city cop was busted early Sunday during a fight in the parking lot has been complaining about what they call police harassment.

Kind of ironic in a way that the owners of Club Reality on Washington Boulevard think the cops are singling them out for scrutiny and the one time police wade in to break up a fight it involves one of their own. It's the police who ended up more shamed than the bar.

In this case, police were directing traffic outside the venue when they heard a commotion and then saw a woman hit a man. That man, it turns out, was a city police officer who had been suspended last year after getting arrested for allegedly driving drunk off a police station parking lot.

Anyway, here is some of what Maza found while researching the bar-end of this bar fight:

Continue reading "Bar where cop busted complains about police" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods, West Baltimore
        

The first thing that struck me was how young these juvenile suspects appeared in their adult mugshots. I'm used to seeing teens charged as adults, but the two 14-year-old boys and the 16-year-old girl charged with stabbing a man on on Maryland Avenue Monday afternoon looked liked they belonged in elementary school.

The daylight attack near Penn Station and the University of Baltimore Law School once again raised questions about the safety of the swath of real estate between Mid-Town Belvedere south of North Avenue and Charles Village to the north. The area is targeted for revitalization, with the Station North arts district and all, but the stretch still seems a no-mans land that could link two vibrant city neighborhoods.

Today's story on the stabbings repeats some of these concerns raised earlier when Stephen Pitcairn was fatally stabbed on St. Paul Street in Charles Village while walking home from a bus at Penn Station. The latest victim on Monday was walking south.

The suspects charged in his case are charged with attempted first-degree murder and several other crimes. Police identified them as Keith Omar Anderson, 14, of Glen Burnie (at left in photos); Lawrence Antonio Horton Jr., 14, of East Baltimore (in the middle); and Daysha Wilson, 16, of East Baltimore.

Here is some chilling accounts from the police report and court charging documents:

Continue reading "Stabbings in the "militarized zones" between neighborhoods " »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: Neighborhoods, North Baltimore
        

City officials are planning a news conference in Patterson Park to address growing concerns by Latinos that they are being targeted. The latest victim is Martin Reyes, who was beaten to death with a board. His cousin was shot in the forehead in July.

The attack on Reyes (left) appears to be by a mentally unstable man who has been arrested and charged and told police he hated "Mexicans." All the victims have been Honduran. Police think some of the victims were robbed because they are easy targets -- carry cash, are walking home late at night from work and are scared of immigration.

The Sun's Nick Madigan found this out about Reyes:

Reyes, who had spent most of the past decade in Baltimore, had six children, most of whom remained in Honduras. One daughter was adopted, and another, Norma, lives a few blocks from the room he rented in a rowhouse on Kenwood Avenue. His 35-year-old son-in-law, Pedro Concepción Diaz Aguilar, shared his space.

"When he was in Honduras, he liked to work with cattle and horses, in agriculture," Diaz Aguilar said Monday as he tried to raise money to send Reyes' body home. "And he dealt in grains and beans — wheat, coffee, frijoles — which he'd buy and resell. He'd move a lot of stuff. Here, it was different. We'd work together, remodeling kitchens, making cabinets — laborers' work."

Another Honduran who knew Reyes said he was "calm and humble," and a good friend. "He never interfered with anybody," said Eberto Funez, 42, who has been in East Baltimore for four years. "When he died, he was just coming from visiting a relative, and unfortunately his number came up."

Miguel Gutierrez, 33, said he had known Reyes since he was a child growing up in the same village, San Antonio, in La Paz, near Honduras' border with El Salvador. Gutierrez said he had come to Baltimore six months ago from Houston at Reyes' urging, and had lived with the older man for a time until he found his own place.

"He's known me since I was a baby," Gutierrez said. "He was always a gentleman, and gave me good advice. He'd say I shouldn't go around drinking, and that I shouldn't be out in the streets."

Here's how the suspect, Jermaine Holley, was out of jail at the time of the killing:

Continue reading "Police to address attacks on Latinos" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
Categories: Breaking news, City Hall, Confronting crime, Neighborhoods, Southeast Baltimore, Top brass
        

A 22-year-old man was shot overnight in Bolton Hill, police said, and he remained in critical condition after surgery.

The shooting took place shortly after midnight on the 1700 block of Park Avenue, that's just a couple blocks south of the Madison Park apartments, which the mayor and housing commissioner this week said would have its license revoked due to ongoing violence. Two people have been killed there this year.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 9:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Neighborhoods
        

Baltimore officials are trying to revoke the license of an apartment landlord in the city's Reservoir Hill neighborhood and move residents out of the 202 units, a rare step aimed at stamping out drug activity and violence, The Sun's Jamie Smith Hopkins reports.

Baltimore Housing Commissioner Paul T. Graziano said he issued a notice late Monday of his intent to revoke the license of the Madison Park North Apartments in the 700 block of W. North Ave. A hearing is scheduled for September to determine the fate of the property and its residents, many of whom would be relocated with government assistance if the license is pulled.

Neighbors call the complex "murder mall," said Saundra Matthews, who lives nearby. "It's terrible," she said, listing off incidents in the area: robbery, fights, killing. "You've got to go there in the daytime."

Posted by Justin Fenton at 9:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Neighborhoods
        

Here's what Andew Palmer ate at Burke's Cafe on Light Street: Buffalo wings ($11.80) and nine Blue Moon draft beers: $40.05.

At Shucker's Restaurant on Thames Street: three glasses of Tanqueray gin ($18); two bottles of Corona ($7.50); 1 Johnny Walker Black Label scotch ($7.50); one Heinekin ($3.75); and one pound of steamed shrimp ($23.66).

Palmer did this for year, all over Baltimore, and he skipped the bill by pretending to have a seizure and being rushed to the hospital.

He often got arrested but rarely did he spend more than 90 days in jail. Finally this month, a prosecutor took note of his extensive record -- 89 arrests in Baltimore and beyond, more than 40 convictions -- and consolidated the cases into one theft scheme. Palmer pleaded guilty and got the maximum -- 18 months in jail.

Authorities only know about the place he got caught. How many restaurant managers did what the good folks at Ding How restaurant in Fells Point did when their customer went into "convulsions" when he got his $40 tab. Said prosecutor Scott Richman: "They didn't want to stick him with the bill as he was on his way out the door in an ambulance."

Here is the police charging document:

Continue reading "He ate, he drank and skipped on the bill" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Crime elsewhere, Downtown, Neighborhoods
        

Today's stories on a crime meeting in Charles Village in the wake of the fatal stabbing of Johns Hopkins researcher Stephen Pitcairn and the Crime Beat column on yet another lenient sentence, this time for a man convicted of robbing a woman at knife-point at an ATM, prompted this response from a retired Baltimore police commander:

Continue reading "Arrests, judges and justice" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods, Top brass
        

A series of attacks in Upper Fells Point, at least two involving groups of 8 to 10 youths who are beating and robbing people, has unnerved this Southeast Baltimore neighborhood. Police say they're investigating one attack as a possible hate crime -- one man shouted "[Expletive] you white boy" as he hit the victim.

But one of the people targeted, Mark Simone, also happens to be a real estate agent. I found that particularly interesting because he sells houses in the city, meaning he must champion it, and how he faces the same issues others have been complaining about -- whether the city is safe enough to inhabit.

Simone told me he still feels safe and he likes city living, but now he and his wife are considering getting a gun and that he no longer snjoys the same sense of security. Here's the full story on the beatings, and here is Mark Simone in his own words about living in Baltimore:

"It was the scariest moment I've ever had. ... We're not going anywhere. But we definitely don't feel as comfortable in our own home as we did before. … We had a sense of security here which is totally gone."

"Some people feel comfortable in different elements. That's the important part, for people to feel comfortable where they are living. ... I am passionate about Baltimore and I'm not going to let a group of kids change that.

"We've talked about getting a gun. I think we're going to get one now. These guys have my ID. They have my license. They know where I live. I'm not a big guy. There's not much I can do to defend myself without having a weapon.

"If people ask if I've been attacked, I'm not going to lie. But I'm not going to be a walking advertisement for the dangers of city living."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Neighborhoods, Southeast Baltimore
        

Keeping loiterers off rowhouse steps is a never-ending battle for cops and homeowners, and it's not news that many put signs in their windows warning people to get off their property. Many are directed at drug dealers.

But while I was out interviewing people about a killing of a man in a lawn chair on East Lafayette Avenue last week, I couldn't help but notice water pouring off a nearby rooftop and onto the marble steps below.

Neighbors told me that the homeowner (who I was never able to reach) positioned a rooftop air conditioner so that it discharged water three stories to the steps below. Without warning, anyone who has the misfortune to be sitting on the steps at that moment gets soaked.

That peaked my interest and I drove around the city looking for innovative ways people devise to keep their steps clear. I didn't find anything like the splashing water, but I did find some rather interesting signs, which are here for your amusement. 

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods
        

Concern is growing in Upper Fells Point as police search for suspects in a series of attacks and robberies, one of which has been classifieid as a hate crime. Johns Hopkins, which as offices in the neighborhood, has issued an alert to its employees.

The Sun's Justin Fenton reports today:

Police said there have been four attacks involving males who were thrown to the ground and punched and kicked while walking alone after dark. In at least one case, a handgun was displayed, and cell phones and other property were taken.

At least one of the attacks was being investigated as a hate crime and others could be, as well, according to police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. A 24-year-old recruiter at an information technology staffing company was walking in the 300 block of S. Ann St. about 9:35 p.m. Tuesday when he saw a group of black males between the ages of 16 and 19, according to a police report.

He walked past the group and was followed. One of the suspects wrapped his arms around the man's throat and forced him to the ground, and the group beat him on the head and body, the report says. The victim told police that the suspects repeatedly used an expletive and referred to him as "white boy." They took his cell phone and $100 in cash.

Here is the Hopkins alert:

Continue reading "Fells Point attacks; one ruled hate crime" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Neighborhoods, Southeast Baltimore
        

I have repeatedly in my Crime Scenes articles talked about how people's fears about crime negate statistics showing people shouldn't be afraid. After all, crime is down to 20 year lows in some categories.

City leaders, then as in the past, love to blame the media for hyping crime beyond proportion. And yes, one sensational crime -- the stabbing of the Hopkins researcher or virtually anything that happens at the Inner Harbor -- can shatter people's peace of mind. The picture at left by The Sun's Justin Fenton is from a recent shooting in East Baltimore of a church caretaker.

The shooting at the Hilton Tuesday night stemmed from a domestic argument confined to a room, but because it happened in one of the city's premier hotels, it gets attention. It can only solidify Baltimore's bad reputation when tourists see police rushing into the hotel and taking someone out on a stretcher and another out in handcuffs.

If you visit another city for the first time and see police swarm the primary shopping street, you might conclude the city is unsafe and you'll never visit again, even if that was the first time something bad happened in the past decade. Similarly, people call the newsroom all the time saying they saw three police cars speed by their house and that's evidence crime is out of control.

It's difficult because fear can't be quantified. And even if the fear is unjustified or irrational, it's still there and still has a negative effect. Combating it is nearly impossible, and citing stats virtually useless.

Today, I wrote about how these same issues were in play 36 years ago. On Sunday, I wrote about how two neighborhoods dealt with separate killings. I also received an e-mail from Ian T. Brennan, one of the spokesman for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. This is what he had to say:

Continue reading "City Hall says fear of crime matters" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: City Hall, Neighborhoods
        

Tuesday is National Night Out, an effort to rally residents to fight crime and show solidarity to take back their streets. Earlier posts have detailed schedules for surrounding counties. Here is a list of what is planned in Baltimore City (for more details, contact local police district):

Continue reading "National Night Out in Baltimore" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

The killings last week of the Johns Hopkins researcher, Stephen Pitcairn, and the church worker, Milton Hill, has generated lots of comments. Some noted another killing in Station North, of Emmauuel Thomas, who police said was a witness in another nearby killiing.

These two e-mails stood out.

From Emily Chalmers:

I too was saddened by the death of Emmanuel Thomas, as I was grieved by the deaths of Stephen Pitcairn, Milton Hill, the security guard shot at the Greenmount takeout, the Comcast installer shot in his van, Zach Sowers, the two gay women shot in their home in NE Baltimore, the young man shot in Bolton Hill while walking his dog, the woman shot on her way home from work in NE Baltimore, and all the others who have died. I try to remember them all, though most of them died without the kind of coverage the most recent murder has received.
 
I think the difference with Stephen Pitcairn, as with Zach Sowers, was that these young men had loving families, professional networks, and wide circles of friends. They also died in communities where people will speak up and express outrage. Many people who are murdered don’t die under these circumstances, and their deaths do not result in the kind of outrage and tributes we are seeing now.

For more of her letter:
 

Continue reading "Scared, worried about crime" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods
        

Residents all over the state and country are being urged to wear blue on Tuesday and turn porch lights on as part of a campaign to raise awareness about crime. Called National Night Out, it's an effort to draw people into  the fight.

I'm trying to compile a full list of activities and thus far I've gotten information from Baltimore and Howard counties. I'll post Howard's in a separate blog, as the one from Baltimore County police is quite extensive:

The Baltimore County Police Department along with elected officials, local celebrities and County civic groups will mark the 27th anniversary of National Night Out on Tuesday, August 3. Last year, more than 36 million people in over 14,625 communities nationwide came together to strengthen the police-community partnership against crime.

A new feature to this year’s events is the “Show Us Your Blue” campaign. Pull something navy blue out of your closet and wear it all day to show your support for law enforcement. Put a blue light bulb in your porch light and turn it on from 6 to 11 p.m. on August 3 as a peaceful way to display your participation on National Night Out.

If you own a business, you can invite neighborhood children to draw posters or design window displays with crime prevention messages for your store front windows. String blue holiday lights on your patio. Light blue candles in your window to show your support. Put blue gels in building lights to cast a bright blue hue all over Baltimore County.

We know you are out there, and that you care about making your communities as safe as possible. Use this day to show criminals that they are not welcome on your block!

Choose one of the events listed below to network with your neighbors, or start a tradition of your own. Be as creative as you can be, and be sure to take lots of pictures to send them to your precinct’s Community Outreach Officer to be included in a special feature in the next Behind the Badge newsletter.

For details about what's going on in your community:

Continue reading "Communities fight crime in National Night Out" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods
        

Baltimore has enough real criminals out there, we certainly don't need fake ones.

But that's just what's happening in Bolton Hill, according to a community Internet message board, which describes encounters with a man pretending to have been mugged and then asks for money:

Several Bolton Hill residents have reported they have been approached by a man informing them he had just been mugged. Each story is almost identical. He states he was just mugged. His phone, wallet and other belongings were stolen. He says he gave a report jto the police. He sometimes asks for a glass of water then asks for money to hold him over with the promise of a payback. Several residents have given him money. He lives in Bolton Hill and is a familiar face to many residents.

His identity has been reported to the police. If approached by anyone saying they were mugged, call the police immediately.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods
        

Continue reading "Charles Village residents, city officials converge at stabbing site" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 8:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (22)
Categories: City Hall, Courts and the justice system, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore
        

Just days before the robbery and fatal stabbing of Stephen Pitcairn, Rick Gilbert's story in Pigtown was making waves.

Gilbert was attacked last month outside his home, given two black eyes, a broken nose and disregarded by police officers who were called to the scene. Within weeks, he left Baltimore. His story was told in a YouTube video posted by the Washington Village Development Association and generated some news coverage.  The theme: Drug dealers chase out city resident.

Gilbert e-mailed me today wanting to tell the story in his own words. He says he had a "For Rent" sign in his window for weeks before the attack as he planned a move out west to Portland, Oregon - a decision fueled as much by stalled economic development and community groups that he felt didn't have his best interests as heart as any thump on the head from neighborhood thugs. 

Ten years ago he bought and fixed up a home on West Ostend Street and Washington Boulevard, a young aspiring entrepreneur willing to take a chance and open to mixing with people of different backgrounds and social status. He played football with neighbors and started a skate program for area kids while building a business.

But as rehab projects around him went off track, the quieting of jackhammers amplified the police sirens in the neighborhood and he gradually became disillusioned. To be sure, the June 27 attack and the police response were crucial moments, he says. But he says his story has become colored with the agendas of others.

I'll let Rick tell it himself after the jump in the piece he sent me, edited for length and some content. The first half is about the most recent incident, but with the rest he waxes poetic on his decade as a city resident:

Continue reading "A former Pigtown resident's lament" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 3:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Neighborhoods, South Baltimore
        

For anyone interested in dissecting the criminal cases involving the suspects charged in the stabbing of Charles Village resident Stephen Pitcairn, The Sun's Justin Fenton's story today is a must read.

It details how suspects Lavelva Merritt and John Alexander Wagner seems to skate through the criminal justice system, to the point where even Baltimore's mayor questions whether the male suspect should've been out on the street.

In one sense, it's a familiar tale of opportunities lost and thrown away, about a reluctant witness who refused to testify in an earlier robbery and about prosecutors who then ditched the case. Whose fault is that?

Above, in a picture by The Sun's Kenneth K. Lam, Joshua Eicher, part of a street-cleaning crew with the Charles Village Community Benefits District, pauses from his work to look at flowers and birthday cake left at a makeshift memorial in the 2600 block of St. Paul St.

The tragic death of Pitcairn, an aspiring Johns Hopkins research assistant who was working on stem cells and breast cancer, will be felt in Baltimore for years to come. Immediately, it will serve as a reminder of a criminal justice system that if not broken is badly in need of reform. It will provide fodder for what could be a volatile race for state's attorney (see earlier blog to get an idea of the fight ahead).

Here is just a few revelations that Justin's story explores:

•Wagner pleaded guilty to a vicious assault on his then-girlfriend in 2008 and received eight years in prison, but the entire sentence was suspended. He was charged with violating his probation on four occasions, but each time a city judge ordered that the terms of his supervision remain unchanged.

•In April, Wagner was caught on city surveillance cameras robbing a man at a downtown gas station and was arrested at the scene after the victim gave a detailed account and identified his attacker. But the victim later got skittish and refused to cooperate. Prosecutors dropped the case.

•And on July 22, a Baltimore County judge issued an arrest warrant for Wagner for violating his probation in a 2009 car theft conviction. But it was added to a backlog of tens of thousands of unserved warrants.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: City Hall, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore
        

I spent the morning walking in the rain with a few hundred police officers who have been visiting Baltimore for the annual National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.

As they traditionally do at the end of every meeting, they walk though a neighborhood that most needs police. They ended with a memorial service at Israel Baptist Church to honor fallen police officers. The next Crime Scenes column will have more on the march and the meeting. Here are some pictures to enjoy from walk along East Biddle Street from the Baltimore Sun's Jed Kirschbaum.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: East Baltimore, Neighborhoods, Top brass
        

Baltimore police are confirming a break-in at Jenna Bush Hager's rowhouse in South Baltimore.

And an intense search is now for the bikes owned by former President Bush's daughter and her husband that includes officers from the Southern District and detectives assigned to the Regional Auto Theft Task Force.

Police confirmed today that cops responded to the Charles Street rowhouse for a burglar alarm but didn't find anything amiss. The alarm company called the Hager's, who were out of town, and they asked a neighbor to check. That's when they found the bicycles missing from a rear garage. Police then noticed two small pry marks on a back garage door.

Police described one bicycle as a men's black and red Trek Fuel-style worth $2,500 and a female blue Trek worth $1,000. Baltimore Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said nothing else was taken and the burglars did not get into the rowhouse.

The couple had Secret Service protection when the initially moved to the neighborhood. But Guglielmi said the couple, who are now married, no longer have that protection.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Breaking news, Neighborhoods, South Baltimore
        

Baltimore police have taken a bunch of guns off city streets this week, bringing the yearly total to 979 illegal weapons and more than 400 arrests.

Here is a look at some of the seizures made since Sunday:

A man at Water and Gay streets, near City Hall and Police Headquarters, was arrested with a loaded handgun on Sunday. That same day, police said they executed a search warrant in the 600 block of Wildwood Parkway in Southwest Baltimore and found a shotgun.

On Tuesday, police arrested a man in the 500 block of N. Ellwood Ave. and charged with illegally possessing a loaded .40 caliber handgun. On Tuesday, cops arrested another man with a loaded handgun, this time in the 3200 block of Tivoly Ave. in Northeast. (less than an hour later, a man was fataly shot several times at North Fulton Avenue and West Lanvale Street in West Baltimore.

Also on Tuesday, police arrested two more people and seized a loaded handgun and drugs at one location and then, at another in the 600 block of East 41st St., they arrested a 37-year-old man carrying a lodaded handgun.

On Wednesday, police arrested a 21-year-old man in the 200 block of N. Monroe St. on a burglary charge. Police said he also was carrying a loaded handgun.

And earlier today, a 17-year-old was reported shot during a fistfight in Northwest Baltimore.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, South Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, Top brass, West Baltimore
        

Baltimore police have updated details surrounding the police-involved shooting from earlier today outside Eden Lounge the Mount Vernon, Mid-Town Belvedere neighborhood. At this point, it does not look good for the officer involved.

At left, Maj. Terrence McLarney, head of the homicide unit, joins police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi in briefing reporters at a 7 a.m. news conference. Here are some new details:

An-off duty Baltimore police officer repeatedly shot and killed an unarmed man who witnesses said  groped the officer’s female companion outside a Mount Vernon nightclub early Saturday, a shooting that top department commanders say they find troubling.

While police said numerous witnesses confirmed that the victim had physically and inappropriately touched the woman and fought the officer, spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said detectives have “not been able to find a concrete motive” as to why the officer felt he needed to take out his weapon and fire.

The victim, identified as East Baltimore resident Tyrone Brown, 32, was shot at least six times in the chest and groin, according to the police spokesman. The officer, a 15-year veteran assigned to the Eastern District patrol division, fired his department issued Glock handgun at least 13 times, officials said.

Deputy Police Commissioner Anthony Barksdale has been ordered to be “intimately involved in the investigation.” A police spokesman said the officer refused to make a statement and declined to submit to a breath test to determine whether he had been drinking alcohol.

For more:

Continue reading "Police update shooting outside bar" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

Wednesday's crash involving a dirt bike -- in which a passenger then assaulted the driver of a car the dirt bike hit after going through a red light -- has sparked complaints from across the city. It was the second dirt bike crash in a week. Earlier, a motorcyclist was killed when he hit a pole after swerving to a avoid a dirt bike whose driver was carrying a child.

In the picture from The Sun's Jed Kirschbaum, Dale Truelock of Cherry Hill Towing rolls the dirtbike damaged in the accident from place where police found it had been hidden after the accident.

There's a video documentary on Baltimore dirt bike riders on YouTube called Wildout Wheelie Boyz.

The out-of-control antics of the dirt bike packs have police stymied once againt. They're forbidden from chasing them because it's too dangerous, and thus the riders have turned some city streets into zones of anarchy.

At a town hall forum sponsored by the City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young, a group of dirt bike riders actually said it's better for them to be out running the streets -- even though the dirt bikes aren't registered and are illegal -- than to have them standing on street corners getting into trouble.

Here is another perspective from resident Bryan Canary, who sent this e-mail to me:

I live right next to Camden Yards in Ridgely's Delight...and every Sunday night at 7pm (plus or minus 10 minutes) the roar of motor bikes/dirt bikes can be heard coming into town on Russell Street...
 
Years ago when I lived in Federal Hill I was always amazed at all the junkies that would come out around 7pm....and I was finally enlightened by one of them......7pm is the time for a major shift change for folks on patrol.....

For more of his email:

Continue reading "Anger over dirt bikes" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: Confronting crime, Downtown, Neighborhoods
        

Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said the weekend violence that saw eight people killed and another five wounded in shootings was generally the result of "minor, petty neighborhood disputes that got out of control."

"Some of these things are beyond the control and the scope of [police] deployments," he said. "...They're not easily solved by saying, 'We're going to put a zillion cops on the street.' We have to be smart about our deployments and focus where we can get the maximum returns."

Providing new details about some of the crimes, Bealefeld said a double-homicide in the Southwest District on Sunday stemmed from an argument at a street corner cookout that "devolved into a fight between a 30 year old man and a woman who was at the party and went home and alerted relatives that had access to cheap, semi-automatic weapons and went back to settle the score themselves."

"Two men ended up losing their lives over a stupid argument - some hair-pulling and a minor assault led to two people being dead," Bealefeld said.

Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake said "we have to have the ability to get together, to enjoy ourselves over the holiday without it turning into fights ... arguments that turn into shootings."

"We have to want more for ourselves in our community than this type of lawlessness. It's going to take the community working with our police to make that happen."

Bealefeld said he was more concerned by Sunday's two killings along the Monument Street corridor, where police have focused more resources in the past year. Two men were shot and killed within blocks and over the span of about 45 minutes. Bealefeld indicated one suspect was responsible for both shootings.

"The Monument Street cases certainly have us evaluating what we could have done better," he said. "When you have two street disturbances, two street fights that lead to two deaths in an hour of each other and with one common suspect, there's some breakdowns there."

Continue reading "Bealefeld: Weekend violence stemmed from "petty neighborhood disputes"" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)
Categories: City Hall, East Baltimore, Neighborhoods, Top brass
        

Update: Police tell me that the two shooting victims from Ramsay Street died. That brings the holiday weekend total to 10 shootings with seven dead. That includes the latest fatal shooting this morning on Loch Raven Boulevard in Northeast Baltimore.

Update 2: Police are reporting that a man was stabbed to death at about 6:15 p.m. Monday in the 4800 block of Truesdale Ave, in the Northeast District's Frankford neighborhood. The three-day death toll is now at eight, the deadliest such stretch of the year. 

Baltimore police are investigating a spate of shooting over this violent holiday weekend, including three that occurred in a brieft span in East Baltimore adnd three others within a few hours and a few blocks in Carrollton Ridge.

Sunday evening, a man was shot and killed on Ramsay Street. A few hours later, two other men were shot (their conditions are not yet known, but homicide detectives were called to the scene). This is the same beleagured neighbhood in which 5-year-old Raven Wyatt was found shot and wounded last year, and the scene of a large community walk with the mayor and police to take back their streets.

The Baltimore Sun's Tricia Bishop just updated that sad tale with news that lawyers for the recently convicted shooter are appealing because they believe prosecutors and a former defense attorney overstated the number of times the suspect had violated his home detention (he was GPS monitoring).

Last year, I walked through the neighborhood twice (once when the mayor came, along with hundreds of angry and concerned residents) and a second time a few weeks later (when hardly anyone showed up).

The Southwestern District's Police Community Relations Council, led by Steve Herlth, is very active with community Citizen on Patrol Walks. And Connie Fowler, the longtime community leader there, has been vocal about violence for years.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, East Baltimore, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, South Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

Michael Vick came to Baltimore to rehabilitate himself after his conviction on dog fighting charges in Virginia that sent him to prison for 18 months. For the first time, he admitted to attending a dog fight in an abandon house somewhere in the city.

The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback -- who was an Atlanta Falcons at the time the charges were brought -- spoke to kids at the Baltimore juvenile detention center. He told them he didn't know why he fought dogs.

Vick was speaking at an event organize by the Humane Society of the United States, and he met with about 35 people. Before this, the only Baltimore connection Vick and this sordid story was that some of the dogs seized from his Bad Newz Kennels -- where dogs were electrocuted and hanged -- had come to Baltimore through a rescue mission (video of Vick's talk).

The last time Vick was in Baltimore was to pick up an award, and was met with protesters.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods
        

The Maryland Institute College of Art in Bolton Hill put out this campus alert Monday evening:

At approximately 11:15 p.m. on Saturday 5/1/2010 a MICA student was walking on the 200 block of West Lanvale Street when she passed two unknown males that asked her for the time. They began following her and after quickly closing the distance they held her against a wall, struck her, showed a handgun and tried to pull her bag away. Her calls for help were answered by neighbors that came out to investigate thereby causing the suspects to flee. Baltimore City Police and Campus Safety responded quickly and searched the area. Suspects have not been apprehended in this incident.

Suspects were described as:
Male, Black (light completion), late twenties in age, 6’ tall, slender build, wearing a dark brown hoody with blue stripes, light blue jeans and white sneakers.

Male, Black, late twenties in age, 5’6”, wearing a dark colored hoody with yellow circular text on the front and blue jeans.

Continue reading "MICA student attacked " »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Neighborhoods
        

Cherand Monroe raised two children and lost them both to Baltimore violence.

Sadly, that is not unusual.

Both her childrens' killers have been convicted of their crimes. And that, even sadder still, is what makes this case unusual.

I've spent too many years writing about justice undone, talking to families waiting for killers to be found, about cases unsolved, about killers roaming free and gunmen taking lives. On Friday, jurors took just three hours to convict the man of raping and brutally stabbing Jerrisha Burton as she drove to a friend's house in Northeast Baltimore 12 years ago. She was 18 years old

Burton's brother, Michael LeMaris Simms (in photo), was killed nine years later, also at the age of 18, shortly after becoming a Marine reservist. He stepped in to help his friends in a fight near Butcher's Hill and got stabbed.

His killer was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and spent two years in prison. Burton's killer. Ernest Roy Rivers, is to be sentenced in May and could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Continue reading "A mother's loss" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Neighborhoods, Northeast Baltimore
        

The Baltimore's Suns police beat reporter Justin Fenton writes today that home invasion robberies are on the rise in Baltimore. There are some great details in the story, including one robbery who wore a skull cap with "superman" written on the side and another who told his victims to "have a nice day" as he left:

Residential robberies were up 34 percent through April 3, compared with same period a year ago. It's the only category of crime on the rise. Homicides, rapes and overall robberies are down by double-digit percentages, according to police.

Police say they can't pinpoint any driving force behind the uptick, and they aren't ready to blame a still-struggling economy or drug activity. The increase is being felt across the city, but most heavily in Northwest Baltimore, which has notched 21 residential robberies compared with eight at this time last year.

Northeast Baltimore has seen the second highest-total, with 19, and the Southern District's total has doubled, to 14 from seven. Unlike a burglary, a residential robbery requires the presence of a victim in the home or business and the taking of property through force or fear. A burglary, also referred to as breaking and entering, does not involve an encounter with the owner and might not even entail theft.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Confronting crime, East Baltimore, Neighborhoods, North Baltimore, Northeast Baltimore, South Baltimore, Southeast Baltimore, West Baltimore
        

I started my day with penny Guinness stouts at 6 in the morning.

Well, actually, I drank a cup of coffee and watched others do the drinking. I was at No Idea Tavern on South Hanover Street, where that special bled into a another special that later today will launch a four-bar pub crawl (money raised is supporting a local elementary school).

At left, Megan Brooks, 22, Catonsville, and Jason Royer, 24, Halethorpe, start the morning with a drink, in a picture by The Sun's Kim Hairston.

A stabbing a few weeks ago after a pub crawl along Fort Avenue has rewnewed discussion on whether such events can and should be regulated. South Baltimore neighborhood groups are seeking permits, while bar owners say it's impossible to regulate or permit people from hopping from one place to another. I'll have a more detailed story on this hot topic on Thursday.

The liquor board might try a compromise by requiring any liquor license holder to notify the board whenever it sponsors an event involving more than one licensee. But trying to regulate an impromptu party or even a pub crawl organized by a person would be next to impossible.

Neighborhood residents have legitimate concerns about bands of rowdy, drunken people roaming through neighborhoods, breaking planters and being loud in the early afternoons. Some are responsible, such as the Irish Stroll in Federal Hill this past weekend that attracted up to 3,000 poeple. Organizers hired extra police and paid to clean up the streets.

But the stabbing on Covington Street involving the Hitmen bar crawl -- which raised money for a flag football team -- prompted many concerns. While I was out at No Idea, bar owners and patrons said the same thing: it comes down to personal responsiblity. Don't overserve, for the bartenders, and act reasonable, for those indulging.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods, South Baltimore
        

A shooting early this morning near the Inner Harbor at Lombard and Light streets is being blamed by city police on the Velvet Rope nightclub, saying the victims and suspect were involved in fight there and had been ejected.

The Redwood Street location has become one of the city's premiere clubs, hosting hip hop stars including Rick Ross, Lil Kim and Trey Songz. But it's also where just a week ago a small riot broke out when patrons angy that a concert had been oversold stormed the front doors, requiring 50 cops to come in to restore order (see picture at left, from city police). Now, after the shooting, city police are again calling for the club to be shut down; there is a liquor board hearing later this month where that could happen.

The question here, and in many other similar cases, is at what point does a nightclub stop being responsible for its patrons?

Continue reading "Police link downtown shooting to nightclub" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Downtown, Neighborhoods
        

Controversy after a stabbing along a Fort Avenue pub crawl this past weekend has raised questions about tensions in a neighborhood and gentrification, and now it seems there is an effort afoot to require pub crawls to get permits, according to Evan at the City That Breeds blog, who attended a community meeting on the topic last night. It seems a good time to revisit a story from a few years ago by former reporter John Woestendiek, who visited nearly every bar along the strip.

It's worth reading (expanded grafic and key) in light of what happend Saturday afternoon involving a pub crawl to raise money for a flag football team called the Hitmen. Two fights broke out, one ending in a participant stabbed three times in the back at East Fort and Covington, near a convenience store.

Continue reading "Pub crawls, permits and gentrification of Fort Avenue" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods, South Baltimore
        

A resident of Butcher's Hill, Jeffrey Schraeder, has taken an unscientific but interesting poll of his neighbors in regards to saving parking spaces and violence. With more snow on the way (see the Maryland Weather Blog), might make for some interesting reading. And for you policy wonks, it breaks down answers by political ailiation.

This comes just a week after Baltimore's mayor ended the sanctioned though illegal saving cleared parking spaces with furniture (pic at right from The Sun's Kim Hairston). Here are his results of the Saved Parking Spots Poll, in which 55 people responded:

“Marked” a spot 32.7% (18 respondents)
Would resort to violence or vandalism 9.3% (5 respondents)
Influenced by the Mayors decision to not uphold the law 21.8% (12 respondents)

Political affiliation:
Democrat 51.9% (27)
Republican 7.7% (4)
Independent 32.7% (17)
Liberal 25.0% (13)
Conservative 13.5% (7)
Liberal Democrats who would resort to violence or vandalism: 2 (40% of those who responded yes)
Republicans who would resort to violence or vandalism: None                                                Independents who would resort to violence or vandalism: 2 (40% of those who responded yes)

Continue reading "Snow parking and violence -- a poll" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: Confronting crime, East Baltimore, Neighborhoods
        

It's always been the thought that crime drops as snow falls.

But take a look at Justin Fenton's story today and you might think othewise. Bottom line is, it's hard to say. Police say they respond to relatively more domestic disputes in snowstorms, but the total number of calls last weekend actually dropped in relation to calls from previous weekends. And people still kill each other and drugs dealers (at least the dedicated ones) still have customers. Two people were killed in this past weekend's storm -- one was a domestic, the other a bar fight. Four people were killed during December's 20-inch snow event.

Sgt. Bob Jagoe, who runs the Regional Auto Theft Task Force, reminds everyone NOT to leave their car running while they shovel or run inside the house. In the snow, he said four-wheel drive SUVs are disappearing.

"I think people sometimes think when it snows, everybody's in it together, we're all in this mess, and who would think of committing crime on such a beautiful day," Jagoe told Justin. "But it only takes a minute, and a running car is a perfect way to make a quick getaway."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Baltimore police are investigating the rape of a woman inside her home in Reservoir Hill, and are trying to determine whether it's related to a series of other attacks in recent months.

As you might remember, police are still searching for the person responsible for a series of East Baltimore assaults in which women were attacked at bus stops and raped in public places. Police have told us that in those attacks, they found the DNA profiles of at least two suspects but have not been able to make a match. After this weekend's attack, The Baltimore Sun's Liz Kay reports that police are expediting DNA and other forensic tests in their efforts to find a suspect.

Police have created a 24-hour tip line, 888-223-0033, for anyone with information on the attacks.

Here is some of Liz's story that is now posted on the Baltimore Sun's web site:

The woman was sleeping in her first-floor apartment in the 2400 block of Callow Ave. when she awoke at about 7 a.m. and saw a man standing above her, according to Agent Donny Moses, a police spokesman. The man apparently came in through an open window and made his way to her bedroom, Moses said.

The woman told police that the suspect covered her mouth and sexually assaulted her, then forced her to clean herself. Police do not believe the man was armed, but Moses said the victim was unable to provide a detailed description of the suspect.

Sunday's incident seems similar to three burglary-rapes and one incidence of sodomy reported between May 2008 and November 2009, said the Police Department's chief spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Neighborhoods, West Baltimore
        

News that a woman convicted of playing a role in a horrific witness intimidation case in 2005 is now suspected in a drug and money conterfeiting case only revives years-old pain.

Shakia Watkins played a small role in trying to drive Harwood community activist Edna McAbier from her home by making fraudulent 911 calls to divert police from the area so her associates could firebomb the house. They were angry with McAbier for refusing to back down in repeatedly calling police on drug dealers.

Many people went to federal prison for long periods of time, but Watkins served four years from a federal judge and got released on three years supervised probation. Then on Friday she was one of 10 people busted by city police in connection with a drug investigation that led to the discovery of $15,000 in counterfeit money.

In 2006, Baltimore Sun reporter Matthew Dolan interviewed Edna McAbier and wrote about her plight. She had done everything right, testified against everybody, but saddes of all, even with all the people who had attacked her in prison, she could not reclaim the home she had fought so hard to protect. Friends of her attackers made that impossible.

Here is just a part of Dolan's story (full story here):

Continue reading "Witness intimidation case recalled in drug arrest" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Confronting crime, Courts and the justice system, Gangs, Neighborhoods, Witness intimidation
        

A group of about 30 police officers, elected officials and citizens crowded around the entrance to Arabian Nights, a hookah bar on Light Street in Federal Hill, at about 1 a.m. as Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III asked the owners what they were doing to help the community.

"Here's how I feel," Bealefeld said. "I want you to be successful, I want you to make a million dollars. We also feel you have to be a good neighbor, too."

Bealefeld was handing them a business card to set up a meeting, and one of the members of the crowd spoke up.

"If it's true what I heard [about your business], I don't want you to be successful," she said. "I want you to close."

As she walked away, one of the men asked the other: "Was that the new mayor??"

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake joined the group at 12:30 a.m. to walk through the Federal Hill bar scene, where police have been experimenting with new patrol strategies to counteract the hordes of drunken barhoppers who flood the streets at last call. They get in fights, they yell, they dent cars or urinate on houses. Girls in incredibly short skirts and guys fumbling around for cigarettes looked puzzledly on as our group walked through the area.

Arabian Nights has some unique problems, police and residents say. There was a stabbing there one night during a fight, and the owners locked police out another time as they responded to break up a fight.  

Continue reading "Rawlings-Blake, Bealefeld and citizens patrol Fed Hill bar scene" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)
Categories: City Hall, Neighborhoods
        

Prosecutors plan to drop charges against a South Baltimore community leader who was arrested and later released and given a citation for impeding a police investigation.

Christopher Taylor, 33, president of the Union Square community association, was arrested Dec. 3 after police said he interfered with an investigation into an alleged sex crime involving a teenage girl, who ran down the street and asked Taylor to call 911.

Margaret T. Burns, a spokeswoman for State’s Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy, said prosecutors plan to drop the case Thursday morning because police incorrectly wrote a citation for “disturbing the peace” instead of “hindering a police investigation.”

“He was not disturbing the peace, according to the facts outlined,” Burns said. “This was a hindering case, and they cited the wrong criminal code as a reference point.”

Critics said the case was a clear incident of over-aggressive policing and misplaced priorities, though police were privately grumbling that prosecutors had again failed to back up the Police Department, which has not publicly wavered in its decision to cite Taylor.

Continue reading "Community association leader's citation will be dropped" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 6:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Courts and the justice system, Neighborhoods, South Baltimore
        

City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke is condemning the release in 2008 of the suspect in this week's Guilford abduction and said the victim of the attack two years ago had no idea prosecutors had agreed to a lenient plea:

Dear Editors,

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Courts and the justice system, Neighborhoods
        

A rash of startling crimes in the Guilford neighborhood prompted a community meeting last night, with more than 50 residents gathering in the middle of the street outside of a home where a man was robbed and abducted.

Police kicked off the meeting with good news - after broadcasting a picture of the suspect, extra officers who were deployed to the area stopped a suspicious person and have now linked him to the abduction and an earlier robbery. Charges are pending. 

That drew a huge sigh of relief from the crowd, but their relief quickly gave way to lingering concerns, including dissatisfaction with police response times, private security that the community pays for, and police disclosure of crimes.

Maggie Smith, who helped organize the meeting and offered up her living room until the crowd grew too large, was exasperated: "I'm terrified to leave my house. I feel as though I've been robbed of my freedom. When my neighbor said good morning to me today, I almost had a heart attack."

For Smith, the crimes hit home. She rents a room in her home to the man who was abducted and left locked in a trunk in "East bumfiddle Baltimore." She said word spread throughout the day that someone from the street had been a victim of such a crime, and when the man returned home, she asked if he'd heard of it.

"It was me," he said matter-of-factly, according to Smith. "I'm alive and I'm hungry." They gave him food, Tylenol and coffee.

"He was calm, cool and collected, but he was probably in a state of shock," Smith said. The man, who had been in the city for just four months and who Smith said "fiddles" at the Maryland Institute College of Art, was brought home by his parents to Bethesda. She doesn't expect he'll return.   

Residents urged each other to be more diligent, to not change their way of life but be more aware of their surroundings. "That's the way we're going to beat these bastards," said Bill Robertson, 62. "By working together and keeping an eye on each other."

As people relayed incidents that they had experienced, others spoke up, saying they were concerned that it was the first time they were hearing of the crimes. Most expressed disgust with the private security patrol residents there pay for. An alert about the robbery-abduction only mentioned the robbery, and one man accused of police of obscuring the more gritty details.

Another man turned his gripes on the court system. "Where's the state's attorney's office? When are we going to start holding Pat Jessamy's feet to the fire and hold her accountable?"

"The man has been arrested..." City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke began to say. 

"And he'll be back on the streets," the man retorted. 

Tom Hobbs, president of the Guilford Association, stressed to neighbors that the recent crimes were abnormal for the area. "Street crime, assaults of this type are virtually not heard of," he said. 

In Friday's Sun, Peter Hermann has a report of the crimes through the eyes of one fearful resident. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Neighborhoods
        

There are at least two dozen Baltimore Police Citizen On Patrol walks scheduled for this evening. City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake plans to be in Belair-Edison; Mayor Sheila Dixon will be in her neighborhood of Hunting Ridge.

Steve Herlth of Southwest Baltimore sent this detailed schedule. It's not comprehensive but it covers much of what's planned:

This is our neighborhood, take a walk!
Taking back the City, One Community, One Walk at a time.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Hi my Friends,

Well, tonight is the night of the Big City Wide Walk. If there is any doubt in your mind, please come out and be seen. We cannot expect the Baltimore City Police to solve all our community problems without us as individuals being involved. So, make the decision and join us.  Look at the following communities that are walking and pick one. We sure can use your help.  Oh, do not forget to dress warm, have comfortable walking shoes, and bring a flashlight, and most of all, have fun and meet new friends. 

Community Group Location Time
Better Waverly Marian House Courtyard (949 Gorsuch) 6:00pm-7:00pm
Carrollton Ridge  The Samuel F.B Morse Recreation Center Parking Lot. 424 S. Pulaski St. 6:30pm-7:30pm
Patterson Place Association  NE corner of Baltimore St. and Patterson Place Avenue 6:30pm-7:30pm
Greektown Community Development Center Byzantio Bar (corner of Newkirk and Eastern Ave) 6:30pm-7:30pm
Evesham Park Neighborhood Association Corner of 701 E. Lake Avenue @ Clearspring Ave 6:30pm-7:30pm
Highlandtown Community Association's Corner of Gough and Conkling (In front of the Laughing Pint) 6:30pm-7:30pm
Bolton Hill 1419 Jordan Street 6:30pm-7:30pm
Upper Fells Point 140 S. Ann St. in front of Ann's Grocery on the corner of Ann and Pratt. 7:00pm-8:00pm
North East Citizens Patrol Northeast Police District, 1900 Argonne Dr. 7:30pm-8:30pm
Westfield Association / WNIA Corner of Pinewood & Sefton 6:30pm-7:30pm
Waltherson Improvement Association (Driving Patrol) Northeast Police District 1900 Argonne Dr. 7:30pm-10:00pm
1st District Human Service Center 3306 Garrison Blvd. 6:30pm-7:30pm
Morrell Park St. Paul  Dunkin Donuts Washington Blvd at Wicks Ave. 6:30pm-7:30pm
Patterson Park Neighborhood Association Patterson Park entrance at Baltimore & Linwood 7:00pm-8:00pm
Violetville Community Association 1000 Haverhill 6:30pm-7:30pm
Concerned Citizens for a Better Brooklyn  226 Washburn Ave. (St. John Lutheran Church-Parking Lot) 6:30pm-7:30pm
Federal Hill South Neighborhood Association East Cross Street and Riverside Ave. (Federal Hill, at the old Porters Pub) 6:30pm-7:30pm
CTAC ALLIANCE/BIA Front of the Senator Theatre 6:30pm-7:30pm
Pigtown/Camden Crossing/Barre Circle  Washington Boulevard and Scott Street 6:30pm-7:30pm
Ridgely's Delight Association  Pickle's Pub (Washington Blvd.) 6:30pm-7:30pm
HollinsRoundhouse Neighborhood Association  Black Cherry Puppet Theater (1115-1117 Hollins St.) 6:20pm-7:30pm
Sandtown-Winchester  Western District Police Station (1134 N. Mount St.) 6:00pm-7:00pm
Curtis Bay  1630 Filbert St. (Curtis Bay Recreation Center Parking lot)  6:30pm-7:30pm
Hunting Ridge  4640 Edmondson Ave. Hunting Ridge Presbyterian Church (Parking lot)  6:30pm-7:30pm
Riverside Neighborhood Association 400 blk E. Randall St. (Riverside Park Gazebo) 7:00pm-8:00pm
Westgate Community Association  Westgate Community Park at North Bend Rd. 6:30pm-7:30pm
The Old Homeland Community Front of the Senator Theatre 6:30pm-7:30pm

Posted by Peter Hermann at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Neighborhoods
        

Gov. Martin O'Malley announced today that Salisbury is getting a Safe Streets program. The program was rolled out in Annapolis in 2008 as part of an effort to curb a crime spike there. After less than a year, the program looked like it was already paying off. And through the first 11 months of 2009, police there were reporting a 40 percent drop in "Part 1" crimes - including homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny - the lowest crime rate since the city started tracking number this way in 1975. Salisbury is the next stop to receive the influx of resources.

The new program coincided with the appointment of former Baltimore police commander Michael A. Pristoop to head the Annapolis city police. Using money from Safe Streets, Pristoop implemented a number of strategic changes, such as assigning senior commanders to street duty during periods of peak crime, increasing patrols around "hot spot" problem areas and creating a street enforcement unit consisting of canine, drug enforcement, intelligence, traffic and foot patrol teams. Safe Streets helped the police department with technological advances such as CCTV and crime-mapping, and helped the city foster a stronger relationship with the Division of Parole and Probation to target known offenders in the community.

Also, on Thursday, O'Malley plans to give a "State of Public Safety" speech in Cambridge, to address public safety improvements statewide under his tenure.

Here is the announcement:

Continue reading "Safe Streets comes to Salisbury" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Mapping crime, Neighborhoods
        

Building off of Peter's post about New Year's Eve preparations, one of our photographers was in Southwest Baltimore when he saw what he described as about 10 police cars and a police van - a paddywagon - driving around slowly through the neighborhood, with lights flashing but no sirens. He decided to follow them to see what was up, and ended up driving around the area in circles until losing them at a red light that they pulled through.

He wanted to know what he had just seen, so I called a Southwest District officer, who informed me that this was an intimidation tactic called a "corner sweep." 

"We're warining the drug dealers to stay off the corners," the officer said.

There will be tons of extra officers on the streets tonight, but it looks like they're trying to set the tone early that police will be out in big numbers.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Neighborhoods
        

The arrest of a 73-year-old West Baltimore community leader and barber for many of Baltimore's elite is raising questions on both sides of the debate. We first reported Monday afternoon that Lenny Clay's arm had been broken during an arrest, and tracked down charging documents and an accident report.  Clay's advocates and police critics claim excessive force, saying there's no justification for a 73-year-old man's arm being broken during an arrest. Others say that if the police account is true, Clay broke the law, leaving the scene of an accident, driving drunk and without a license, and resisting arrest - in otherwords, people who do those things can expect a negative result.

The situation is more of an issue of use of force, because Clay, who for decades has been a community leader and advocate for kids, outright denies virtually every claim in the police reports - from accusations that he was drunk to the notion that his car was involved in an accident. With the intention of showing readers the kind of things we consider when reporting a he-said, she-said story like this, here are some unanswered questions we've explored:

Continue reading "Barber's arrest causes controversy" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 4:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Neighborhoods, West Baltimore
        

Today we reported on the decision by officials at the Great Blacks in Wax museum to cut ties with a promoter who had pitched a series of teen parties as Christian fundraisers but which featured "'She's Got a Donk' sexy dancing" contests and fliers with men flashing gang signs and the middle finger. A 20-year-old was stabbed and killed there Friday after fights broke out in the overflow crowd. The museum's deputy director had previously stood by the event, saying that they were positive functions and that the organizers couldn't be responsible for what happened outside the museum. But after we sent him the fliers, he quickly formed a different opinion.

Not surprisingly, the Myspace page from where I pulled those fliers has been set to private as of today. Even though the URL remains myspace.com/biglesproductionsinc, they've changed the name to "Young Fly and Flashy Promotions" and have put a different person's name on the profile.

Credit to the CityPaper, which raised questions about this group in 2006. Even then, the Baltimore Christian Community Association had been technically defunct as a Maryland corporation for a decade, records show.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: East Baltimore, Neighborhoods
        

Last night, there was a flurry of shootings on the city's east side. I drove to one shooting scene at N. Lakewood Ave. and Jefferson St., then turned the corner and went a few blocks to another on N. Linwood.

As I drove back home, traffic was stopped near Hopkins, and in the distance I could see police car after police car after police car - must've been 40 of them - making the turn towards the Hopkins emergency room with lights and sirens blaring. "Uh oh," I thought. With that kind of response, it had to be something awful. A police officer critically wounded? They were driving slow - probably the icy roads, I thought.

I wasn't the only one who saw this and got that sinking feeling. From Twitter:

@erintangerine: About 25 cop cars driving slowly, sirens blaring down Calvert near Chase in B-more. What's going on?!?!

And emails:

"I live Downtown at Pratt and Greene. Last night, my fiancee and I observed a line of maybe 30 to 40 police vehicles (City and State) with sirens blaring turning west onto Lombard from Greene. About 10 to 20 minutes later, we observed that very same police line heading east on Pratt. Most of the vehicles were marked cruisers but a few were unmarked SUVs and blue vans with shields on them. Do you have any idea what was going on? I see nothing on the Sun website."

As it turned out, what these most of folks were seeing was likely part of a multi-agency holiday toy drive sponsored by Channel 2. I can't say that for certain, since I'm not sure what the route for this motorcade was. And that may be the problem.

I was relieved when I pulled over, talked to some officers and learned that this was a positive, holiday event. But how many people who didnt tweet or send an email to me are thinking right now that their neighborhood was under siege last night?  They wouldn't be foolish in thinking that, since there were at least four shootings last night, including a 15 year old girl who was shot in the head. I remember as a kid hearing firetrucks blare through my neighborhood in Anne Arundel County, running outside, and seeing Santa on the firetruck, throwing candy canes on our front yards as the truck crawled at 10 miles an hour. It was fun because after our initial shock - every year, even though we should have known it was coming - we figured out that it was all in holiday fun. But there's quite a few who weren't able to figure out that this was an organized effort and not a response to the latest shooting. And before you call me a Scrooge, no, I'm not advocating for an end to this positive event. But my email inbox and Twitter indicates that perhaps they can find a way to better signal their purpose.

Posted by Justin Fenton at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Neighborhoods
        

Here's the news release from Baltimore County Police:

Police Seek Cat Burglar In Precinct 11/Essex

Man Always Enters Homes Through Unlocked Doors
 
Baltimore County Police are searching for a cat burglar who has struck in the same neighborhood four times since September. He may be responsible for a total of eight such incidents in Precinct 11/Essex, starting in February 2008.Victims can describe the suspect only as a slim black male, 20-30 years old. Investigators do, however, have a sketch of the suspect based on information from one victim.

 In all of these cases, the homeowner left a sliding glass door unlocked, and the man simply walked into the home. In some of the cases he made his way to the bedroom of  women or teen-aged girls who woke to see him standing in their room.  On September 19, a woman awoke in the middle of the night to find the man touching her. At other times he has been confronted by residents and left the same way he came in – through the unlocked door - and could not be located by Police. He has taken no property, and there have been no violent confrontations. The addresses and dates where he struck are:

Continue reading "Cat burglar in Essex" »

Posted by Justin Fenton at 3:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Baltimore County, Neighborhoods
        

When we called the Great Blacks in Wax Museum for comment about the stabbing during a party there, the director told me that the place had been rented out by the Baltimore Christian Warriors, which holds wholesome events and raises money for activities such as youth marching bands. He said there had never been any past violence. But I wanted to find out more about this group, and it led me on an interesting path.

Follow me on this one:

-If you Google "Baltimore Christian Warrior," one of the first results is actually a post from Midnight Sun in which our nightlife reporter Sam Sessa saw an ad for "free party bookings" and called the number to find out what that was about. The voicemail said it was the hotline for the "Baltimore Christian Warriors."

-So I revisited that poster Sam first saw on Calvert St., and it took me to a Myspace page for Big Les Productions. The page advertises "Follow the Swag" parties for young adults and "mature high schoolers," featuring events such as "'She's got a Donk' sexy ladies dance contests." Most of the fliers are for parties at the Great Blacks in Wax Museum (such as the one at right), and many feature young men throwing up what appear to be gang signs and flipping the bird to the camera. It's apparently a weekly party, with a cover charge, and the fliers indicate that the party on the night of stabbing was part of this series - not, at least from the outside, a fundraiser for the Baltimore Christian Warriors.

(In a clever marketing move, one single party has about 20 different fliers advertising it as a birthday party for someone else. So it gets packed and all your friends think they're there for you)

I tried calling "Big Les" to see what the deal is; someone answered the phone and said he takes Les' calls for him and would pass the message along. In the meantime, I've reached out again to the museum's deputy director again to find out whether the wool was pulled over their eyes in regards to nature of these parties, or whether there's something else going on. 

Posted by Justin Fenton at 7:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Neighborhoods
        

On Friday, I spent a few hours with a community representative and a police officer in North Baltimore. More than 200 residents joined city cops for a night on the streets to learn the city from law enforcement's perspective.

You can read the complete story here but I also have a video of the exciting evening out:

Continue reading "Community police ride-along" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Neighborhoods
        

Wednesday's tragic fire in Rosemont killed Sam Davis, the 76-yar-old father of one our top editors at the Baltimore Sun. It also has raised serious questions about the Fire Department's longstanding practice of closing fire companies to save money.

Engine 20 responded to the 3 a.m. fire on Presstman Street but Truck 18 sat in that same station, shut down as part of rotating closures. Another truck company came from two miles away, a delay that has critics charging that buget cuts contributed to a death. Fire officials also say that the initial 911 call came in on a cell phone and was garbled, and fire crews were first sent to Presbury Street four blocks away.

Baltimore Sun reporter Julie Scharper and Liz Kay provide more details in today's paper and on-line story. Earlier this week, Mayor Sheila Dixon nixed plans by Fire Chief James S. Clack to permantenly close three stations, which would cut back on rotating closures. But the mayor did agree on one closure (Truck 16, which ironically was sent to the fatal fire in place of Truck 18)prompting a fire lieutenant to openly speak out on a Bolton Hill blog:

I appreciate your allowing me to voice my concerns on your forum. I am a Lieutenent at Truck 16, which is the fire truck located at 406 McMechen Street. We have just been informed that we will be closed permanently on January 1st. this puts all of you in extreme jeapordy. The engine will remain, however, the engine does not carrie ladders to assist you from windows in the event of a fire. We have served this community for years with much pride and feel this is very much a disservice to you hard working tax paying individuals. The department is permanenttly closing 3 companies on January 1st. If you are as upset about this as we, your local servants are, perhaps you could contact your local councilperson and voice your concerns. Thanks

Lieutenant Robert G. Folderauer
Truck Company # 16

The lieutenant noted a meeting has been scheduled with the fire chief, his command staff and City Council members at the McMechen Street firehouse for tonight at 7 p.m.

It's a volatile issue that is sure cause an uproar and debate. The president of the Rosemont Community Association, Robert Hunt, told The Sun's Liz Kay: "This is a good example of money versus lives. What is more important to you? " It's a crap shoot and it was the wrong decision as far as I'm concerned."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Neighborhoods
        

Many years ago, when the Baltimore Fire Department first began a rotating closure of fire companies to save money (the practice long predates this administration), a union official told me it was like playing Russian Roulette with people's lives.

This morning, one man died and a woman was injured in a rowhouse fire in the 3100 block of Presstman St. in West Baltimore (pictures at left by The Sun's Jed Kirschbaum). The truck company, Truck 18, located just six block away on North Avenue, had shut for the day. Engine 20 out of the same station, along with a medic, responded.

Trucks have the ladders and equipment needed for firefighters to make entry, perform rescues and break down doors and windows. Engines have water or are used to hook up to fire hydrants. Both are needed to properly respond to a fire.

A department spokesman is saying they are investigating response times to see whether a truck dispatched from another fire station made it in a reasonable amount of time and whether it would've made any difference. That will be the big question today; with Truck 18 down (station seen below), from where and from what distance did the other truck have to come and was that good enough?

Capt. Stephan G. Fugate, president of the Baltimore Fire Officer's union and a long critic of the rotating closures, told the Baltimore Sun's Liz Kay that the next nearest Truck company was two miles from Presstman Street when it was dispatched. "Those extra 90 seconds in the early stages of a fire .... that's is the difference between life and death." Noting a truck company's role in leading rescue efforts, he said: "You're placing civilians and our own members in jeopardy."

This morning's fire comes just two days after Fire Chief James S. Clack proposed shuttering three fire stations permanently. He said that would mean rotating closures would be limited to three each day; they now close fire companies every day. Mayor Sheila Dixon scaled back that plan, however, agreeing to close only one station. That means four companies will be closed each night.

Clack, speaking on WBAL-Radio this morning, did not directly answer whether Truck 18 would've made any difference in fighting the fire on Presstman Street. Here is what he had to say:

“Unfortunately what happened last night, the station has an engine and a truck. Just before we got the call to the fire, there was a  false alarm further to the west received. Engine 20 that was in the station with truck 18 and the engine was sent to the false alarm. They had to turn around and come back to their district. Tthat delayed getting the first engine to the fire."

"That's going to happen. We’re going to have fires near stations … It’s inevitable that  we’re going to have fires close to a station or a company that was rotated closed."

"I think we're to the point where we can't do much more of this."

The city has 36 engines and 18 truck companies and he said if five are closed each day, "That’s 10 percent of our surpression force. That’s a lot. I don't think it's prudent for us to keep increasing the rotating closures ... We need to have a serious discussion about where we go from here."

A few weeks, ago a bar owned by firefighters burned in Locust Point and one of the fire companies based on East Fort Avenue was shut. An engine had to come from Brooklyn, delaying the response time to a fire that involved the firefighters' own.

Firefighters have responded with vitriolic comments on the closures over the years. Some samples from the Maryland listing (made before this morning's fire) in The Watchdesk, a public comment forum for firefighters across the nation:

Continue reading "Response time questioned in fatal fire" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Neighborhoods
        

Our visiting British crime reporter Mark Hughes ended his first full day in Baltimore by walking with the South Baltimore's Riverside community group. They spent about an hour walking through the neighborhood with police, who even made a couple of busts.

He chatted with residents about crime (they're most concerned with car break-ins, loitering and grime) and learned that these walks are an opportunity for people to point out everything from dangling power lines to trash that needs to be picked up to blighted houses. At left, Mark is talking with the Southern District commander, Maj. Scott Bloodsworth, in an alley near Heath and Light streets.

One of the sergeants on the walk ended up arresting a man and a woman on a disorderly charge (the woman was high and both refused to leave), at least temporarily abating a problem for the night.  Mark is here in part because The Wire is so successful in Great Britain (The Sun's Justin Fenton is headed there on Wednesday), but walking through Riverside was a chance for him to see a neighborhood with other, more pedestrian problems.

Mark has a blog up to recount his experiences, and he and The Sun's crime reporter Justin Fenton are on the Ed Norris show, (105.7-FM) this morning at 8:10 a.m. At left, Bloodsworth chats with a woman one of his officers had just arrested on a disorderly charge at Light and Heath streets.

Just before the walk, the spokesman for the mayor's office, suggesting a better column than one was planning to write, sent me a suggestion of his own (NFS stands for non-fatal shooting):

"The Mayor was sworn in on January 17, 2007.  She has been Mayor for 1,022 days. In that 1,022 days, there have been 2,276 combined homicides and NFS. In the 1,022 days before she took office (April 1, 2004 to January 16, 2007) there were 2,558 combined homicides and NFS.  This represents 282 less combined homicides and shootings – a decrease of 11%"

If those numbers are accurate, in the 1,000 days before Sheila Dixon became mayor, the city averaged 2.50 shootings and homicides a day. Under her tenure, the average has dropped to 2.23 a day. There's a disconnect between fear of crime and stats that city leaders just don't seem to get.

Does a crime drop of a few tenths of a percentage point make you feel any safer? Do you even know what that means?

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Crime elsewhere, Neighborhoods
        

Baltimore fire officials are planning a live burn demonstration on Tuesday in downtown Baltimore to demonstrate how well sprinklers work. I hope it works better than a similar demonstration in Washington this month when the fire got out of control and burned at least two firefighters.

It was particularly embarassing because in DC, the fire chief was there and tried to put out the spreading flames only to find out that there was no backup hose. In fact, the Washington Post reported that the fire officials there violated a series of safety regulations.

Sound familiar?

Remember two years ago when we reported that a fire academy student died in a live burn that Baltimore fire officials had set up in a vacant rowhouse. They too violated dozens of safety violations that included not having a backup hose.

Hopefully this burn goes better. For more details about the event:

Continue reading "Fire demo planned " »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Neighborhoods
        

Giovanna Blatterman's daughter, Gia, took issue with my column last week on the Little Italy crime meeting. I'll run her entire e-mail below, but like others, she didn't like the tone of the story focusing on neighborhood drama, saying that it obscured a real and frightening issue over crime.

Gia says there are two factual errors. She says I used "Gia" -- insinutating the daugher -- instead of the mother. I looked back at blog postings and the printed article and I reference the mother as "Giovanna" and on subsequent times "Blatterman." Other posters to the blog used "Gia" for Giovanna." Also, Gia Blatterman is the sole name on the restaurant's liquor license. I had both mother and daughter running the establishment. In previous restaurant reviews, all of them positive, mother and daughter are listed as co-owners.

Here is Gia Blatterman's letter:

Continue reading "Little Italy crime fight (continuted)" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Neighborhoods
        

After more than a year of debate, a failed effort by the liquor board and contant complaints by residents of Mid-Town Belvedere and Mount Vernon, Baltimore's police commissioner has issued a padlock order to Suite Ultralounge.

This bottle club has been a constant irritant for residents and defended by its owner and lawyer as a victim of misplaced community outrage. They say violence outside the club but attributed to patrons unfairly demonizes the nightspot that attracts teens.

The debate over crime outside Ultralounge grew into a citywide debate over crime downtown at aother nightclubs and led to talk about whether the city was safe at night. Police have been using the padlock law to hold bar and liquor store owners more accountable and have forced several to close or revise their security plans.

A double shooting and stabbing that police say began as disputes inside the club on East Chase Street, in the basement of the historic Belvedere hotel, are just the most public. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi gave some more examples:

-- 17-year-old patron held up at gunpoint at 12:58 a.m. on Jan. 18 outside the club, beaten and robbed of money and a cell phone.

-- A 15-year-old patron who robbed two 15-year-old male patrons at gunpoint as they left the club on Feb. 1

-- A male patron who was stabbed near the club and suffered life-threatening injuries on Oct. 11, which prompted a retaliatory shooting that left a female with a through and through gunshot wound to the thigh that same night. Police said the dispute started inside the club.

“The reality is there is no question you can tie a number of violent offenses to this club,” said City Councilman William H. Cole IV. “Whether or not the liquor board does what it needs to do, the city has its own tools it can use in the most egregious cases. The entire community has been begging for this for well over a year now.”

The attorney for the club, Peter A. Prevas, didn't return a call I made to his office this afternoon.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods
        

So after waiting months for Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Kaye Allison to rule on whether Suite Ultraloung, a controversial bottle club in the basement of the Belvedere Hotel, can stay open, we finally get what amounts to a non-ruling.

The judge, in essence, decided that Baltimore's liquor board needs to formulate standard rules to shut the club before it shuts the club. The board had thought existing rules for closing troublesome night spots were good enough, but until late last year, the bottle club had been running under antiquated rules that allowed it to escape the scrutiny of the board. The city changed that because of complaints, and the judge said those changes require new standards before the lock can go on.

This means the club can stay open until the liquor board completes its new regulations for revoking licenses and then have another hearing on Suite Ultralounge. The easiest way for that to happen is November, when the club has its license up for renewal. That's a full year from when the board revoked its license, citing the club as a danger to the community.

Mayor Sheila Dixon had this to say in a statement:

“Today’s ruling was very disappointing news with respect to the Suites Ultralounge, which has not been a good neighbor. Unfortunately, this decision does not bring closure to the residents of Mt. Vernon, an area where we have seen too many violent incidents linked to this nightclub.

The Liquor Board should act quickly to address the concerns raised in the judge's opinion. We are hopeful that bureaucracy and red tape will not prevent the board from finally shutting down this nuisance club.”

There's a good chance this whole episode could be prolonged even further. If the liquor board, as expected, yanks the club's license again in November, its owners will most certainly appeal to Circuit Court again. A judge could again take months to rule, find the board's new regulations inadequate and send it back yet again or decide it can or cannot be shuttered. Either way, more appeals are likely.

The only reprieve residents have is that because Allison took so long to rule in this case, liquor board chairman Stepan Fogleman has told me he would no longer grant shuttered bars a stay pending their appeal to court, as they did with Club Ultralounge. Fogleman said he had expected a ruling within 30 days, not three months. That would mean club owners would have to make an extra trip to court to seek a stay from a judge if they want to remain open pending appeal.

For now, Club Ultralounge, linked to several violence acts including shootings and maurading youths in Mount Vernon and Mid-Town Belvedere, will get to stay open. It's attorney, Peter A. Prevas, told The Sun's Julie Bykowicz and Sam Sessa (see his nightlife blog, Midnight Sun, for yet another story about violence in the area), "It's certainly a victory. We won the battle but not necessarily the war."

Posted by Peter Hermann at 7:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Neighborhoods
        

Sophia Litrenta, the 9-year-old girl who ran a lemonade stand to raise money to save the Baltimore Police Department's Mounted Unit, handed the city's police commissioner a check for $2,319 this morning at the horse stables.

Sophia's at left, petting a horse with Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III, at her lemonade stand on Tuesday. The photo was taken by The Sun's Lloyd Fox.

The little girl from Lutherville served the lemonade and cookies earlier this week after seeing reports that the horse unit might be disbanded if the city can't come up with about $200,000 in private funds. Budget cuts forced the city to take away funds and the department is seeking donations through a private foundation.

Anthony Guglielmi, the city's police spokesman, said the foundation has raised nearly $60,000 so far.

Here's how to donate money to the horse unit: Contact Laurie Crosley at the Baltimore Community Foundation for the Police Foundation. Donations can be mailed to her at: Baltimore Community Foundation; 2 E Read St # 9; Baltimore, MD 21202-6903. Checks should be made out to: Baltimore Community Foundation, Police Foundation Fund. The cover letter or check should specify that the funds are to used to support the Mounted Unit. The phone number there is: (410) 332-4171.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Neighborhoods
        

Another weekend and more crime at the Inner Harbor.

I thought we had a respite after the early summer stabbings, attacks and large crowds of youths terrorizing the visitors (at left, Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III patrols the downtown area after a spate of crime in June). But Saturday night, after members of a Bloods gang passed members of a Crips gang in the Light Street pavilion, at least one person took out a gun and opened fire. Another shot was fired near an outside ice cream stand.

One reader wrote to me that he was at the Harbor Friday and Saturday nights but didn't seen any police. That's a bit much, even though the heavy contingent assigned to the downtown area earlier this summer has dispersed. The city couldn't keep that going with all the other violence in the city, but now that its no longer at full strength we see what happens.

On Sunday, both the mayor and the police commissioner said they wanted cops to take a tougher stance, even rousting suspected gang members who come downtown. "Some people might not like it," Sheila Dixon told The Sun's Annie Linskey. "Some radicals are going to speak out about it. Our officers are going to have to become more aggressive."

No mayor wants to lose the Inner Harbor to crime on his or her watch.

Here is the mayor's statement from Sunday night (though it pales in comparison to what Dixon told The Sun in the interview:

“I am outraged by the shootings that occurred yesterday evening in the Pratt Street Pavilion.  The Inner Harbor is for everyone.  It is the premier destination for Baltimore’s families and millions of visitors. We will do everything in our power to make sure it stays that way.   
 
We will not tolerate the Inner Harbor being a “hangout” for those who break the law, intimidate, or create a nuisance of any kind.   We have a lot of police deployed in the Inner Harbor. The Commissioner and I will continue to work dilligently and swiftly to improve security.

This incident is yet another reminder of the need for zero tolerance for illegal guns. We must all agree and ensure that if you carry a loaded, illegal gun in Baltimore -- you go to jail.”

Here is what a resident wrote me on Sunday:

Continue reading "Shooting at Inner Harbor" »

Posted by Peter Hermann at 6:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (58)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods
        

The woman hit by a stray bullet inside her Cherry Hill home Tuesday night is a community activist and has headed the Cherry Hill Tenant Council for the past five years. She's well known in her community, and when I stopped by this morning, two police cars were parked out front and neighbors slowed as they drove by and waved and made sure she's ok.

"I'm blessed," Shirley Foulks (in photo next to the bullet hole) shouted back, pausing between conversations on the phone, with the officers and with me. A crime lab tech came to the house to photograph a bullet casing found on her walkway.

Shirley had spent most of Tuesday visiting businesses to make sure they will donate back-to-school items for a fair on Saturday at the community center on Spellman Road. It is the kind of work that Shirely does tirelessly for her community.

Jack Baker, the head of the Southern District Police Community Relations Council, sent me this e-mail:

The wonderful lady who was hit is Ms. Shirley Foulks, President of the Cherry Hill Homes Tenant Council. Shirley has worked tirelessly for many years for all of the tenants of Cherry Hill Homes but especially the children. I have worked with Shirley for over five years on safety issues along with my teammates, the Southern District Police officers. I have been blessed to know Shirley, but working with her is an even greater blessing. The woman gives not just her time, but anything she owns, especially her love, to anyone who needs it. Let's all pray for her speedy recovery.

I'll have more on this shooting in Thursday's Crime Scene article.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Breaking news, Confronting crime, Neighborhoods
        

Most of the letters I find in my mail slot start with a prison ID number. So it was refreshing to open one today from Sophia Litrenta, a 9-year-old girl who is donating proceeds from her lemonade stand to the Baltimore Police Department's Mounted Unit.

As we've reported, the city cut the budget for the six police horses and it needs at least $150,000 in private donations to make it another year. Police are trying to find a corporate sponsor to pick up the tab, but regular citizens, and now even children, are doing what they can.

The event is Tuesday, Aug. 18, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at 8609 Countrybrooke Way, Lutherville, 21093.

Sophia's letter is priceless:

Posted by Peter Hermann at 4:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods
        

An important community cop walk is coming up Wednesday in Carrollton Ridge. Lest we forget, this is the neighbhorhood where the 5-year-old was shot and critically wounded, and where hundreds came for a walk to join the mayor and just about every other public official (Gene Sweeney Jr. captures the walk, with Mayor Sheila Dixon chatting with community activist Steve Herlth).

That was the easy one.

Now comes the test. Do the people the mayor and the police commissioner and the longtime community president, Connie Fowler, implored to help out actually show up? Or will this be another example of how we react to crime only to forget and move on a few weeks later.

Community activist Steve Herlth put out this e-mail as a challenge:

Carrollton Ridge, Wednesday, Wednesday, August 12 at 6:30 PM.  Meet up will be at the Recreation Parking lot, S. Pulaski and Ashton Streets.

Now, this Carrollton Ride walk will be an interesting walk, for some of us who participated in the Mega walk last month.  We all know how hard the Carrollton Ride Connie Fowler, The Mayor, the City employee's, the various community Walkers, and our fantastic Southwestern and Southern Officers were in participating in that walk to get the community residents out. Now is their chance to come out and join us in making their community safe and clean. 

All who participated in the last walk threw out the challenge to the community residents.  Many of the residents promised to be there on this Wednesday.  This is where I say, "We must have faith in the community" so let us back that faith up with a little pray that they keep their word.

Posted by Peter Hermann at 9:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods
        

All across the Baltimore last night, community groups held events to mark National Night Out. At Easterwood Park and Stadium Place, residents chatted and ate food. Near the Gilmore Homes housing project, rap and R&B acts performed on a big stage as part of an event promoted on radio station 92Q and sponsored by the Mayor’s Office on Criminal Justice.

But in Highlandtown, one Baltimore Police Commander took National Night Out to new heights, as The Sun's police reporter, Justin Fenton, reports:

More than 100 residents rocked out to a band made up of city police officers, including Southeastern District Maj. Roger Bergeron and his brother, Mark, who is a sergeant in the southern district.

The band, named “Damn Shame,” was making its first public appearance and the event was outside, on the property of the Abbott Memorial Presbyterian Church on Bank Street, so the concert attracted a fair amount of curious cops. They were treated to a full light show, a fog machine and plenty of rock poses. 

“There’s a lot of thugs in the neighborhood, who think these streets are theirs. Well I don’t know about y’all, but we’re not going to take it anymore,” Roger Bergeron yelled before the band launched into Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”

The set list for the first half of the show also included Black Crowes’ “Hard to Handle,” ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man,” Tommy Tutone’s “867-5309/Jenny” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Gimme Three Steps”

Dep. Maj. William Davis was among the spectators. His review? “Not bad.”

Posted by Peter Hermann at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Confronting crime, Neighborhoods
        

At her news conference last week after a dozen people had been shot at a party (18 overall on the city's Eastside), Mayor Shelia Dixon clearly had enough. She didn't want to talk about programs, and certainly not stop snitching, and she even got into it on prayer vigils (topic seems appropriate on the eve of National Night Out:

"People hae to be outrage, you know. Standing on a corner and having a candlelight vigil, that's fine and good. But what happens to those families in the midst of what happened? What are they going to do for those children so they don't get exposed? It comes down to personal responsibility. My concern, what are we going to do, how are we going to beef up that effort? What are we going to do if they (gunmen) decide to come over to the west side? I don't want innocent bystanders to be involved. If they want to take it out between themselves, fine and good, but that shouldn't impact our communities."

I mention this because on Monday, Marvin 'Doc' Cheatham, the head of Baltimore's NAACP branch, sent out a plea for a vigil and for men to meet children when they come home from their first day of school this fall. That brought an interesting response from City Councilam James B. Kraft (which follows Mr. Cheatham's request:

Dear Mayor Dixon, President Rawlings Blake & City Council Members:

Yes, we are in a crisis situation as it relates to crime in our community.&n