Rolley would reduce penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana
Mayoral candidate Otis Rolley said he would seek to reduce the penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana, create a dollar tax on bullets and increase funding for youth recreation and jobs, as part of his plan to fight crime.
Rolley, who is slated to unveil his public safety platform Tuesday, said the city needs a "multi-faceted approach" to cutting cutting.
Rolley said he would increase police hiring and fitness standards and bolster police training, but not increase the size of the force.
"We don't need more cops. We need screened, well-trained, reasonably-compensated police," he said, adding that standards much be increased to prevent some more police department scandals.
Rolley said he would push for state legislation to make carrying a small quantity of marijuana a summary offense -- subject to a citation and fine, but no jail time. Philadelphia and Seattle have similar policies, he said.
"It takes a lot of the burden off of the court system," he said.
"I'm not trying to turn this into Hamsterdam," said Rolley, referring to a neighborhood on The Wire where drugs were legalized. "But I think we can all admit the war on drugs isn't working."
Rolley also plans to lobby state lawmakers to allow the city to impose a one dollar tax on bullets, which he hopes would ultimately lead to a reduction in gun crime.
He said he supports the police department's current approach of targeting the worst offenders and high-level drug dealers, a policy put in place during Sheila Dixon's administration and continued under the tenure of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.
Rolley says he plans to create incentives for businesses to hire ex-offenders, in an effort to reduce recidivism rates.
Rolley said he hopes to pull churches into the fight against crime, organizing mediation programs, education, recreation and social service program.
"The only thing that outnumbers the liquor stores in the city are the churches," Rolley said.
He says he would pilot a program -- modeled after a similar initiative in Boston -- in two police districts with the highest levels of crime.
The program would cost "a couple of million dollars" to begin with, with additional assistance coming from the churches, Rolley said.
Rolley said he would double funding for after school programs and increase the number of students hired by the city's summer jobs program to 10,000. About 5,000 students are employed this summer, down from a high of 7,000 in 2009.
Comments
I'd vote for anyone who proposes this, but I wish I could vote for someone who had the balls to say "I am trying for Hampsterdam." Because mass treatment and full decriminalization is the only way to treat a real disease like addiction.
Posted by: blarg | July 18, 2011 10:04 PM
I 100 percent agree.
Status quo just isnt good enough anymore.
Baltimore needs a mayor who is not a puppet of the OMalley brothers.
Vote Otis Rolley this fall.
Posted by: John | July 19, 2011 9:57 AM
So here we have a candidate for Mayor who understands cities (MBA in City Planning from MIT), has loads of experience battling bloated agencies (Housing and Community Development, Planning Department), understands that we need to beef up our population by reducing the property tax, and seems to see that you can't arrest your way to either prosperity or safety.
I think we have a Real Actual Bona Fide Quality Mayoral Candidate for the first time in ages. Baltimore, you're CRAZY if you don't elect this guy.
Posted by: G. Frangler | July 19, 2011 10:36 AM
Yeah, but this is the same guy that's worked with multiple administrations in Baltimore City that did little, including one politician as crooked as a shepherd's staff who he continues to consult.
Call me crazy, but not all experience is good experience. Otis may be the strongest candidate in the race, but given the (lack of) quality in it, That. Don't. Mean. Much.
Posted by: Dennis The Cynic | July 19, 2011 11:50 AM
On June 17, 1971, President Nixon told Congress that "if we cannot destroy the drug menace in America, then it will surely destroy us." After forty years of trying to destroy "the drug menace in America" we still *haven't* been able to destroy it and it still *hasn't* destroyed us. Four decades is long enough to realize that on this important issue, President Nixon was wrong! All actions taken as a result of his invalid and paranoid assumptions (e.g. the federal marijuana prohibition) should be ended immediately!
It makes no sense for taxpayers to fund the federal marijuana prohibition when it *doesn't* prevent people from using marijuana and it *does* make criminals incredibly wealthy and incite the Mexican drug cartels to murder thousands of people every year.
We need legal adult marijuana sales in supermarkets, gas stations and pharmacies for exactly the same reason that we need legal alcohol and tobacco sales - to keep drug dealer criminals out of our neighborhoods and away from our children. Marijuana must be made legal to sell to adults everywhere that alcohol and tobacco are sold.
"There's something extraordinarily perverse when we're so concerned about preventing addicts from having access to drugs that we destroy the lives of many times more people, either through untreated pain or other drug war damage".
Posted by: Jillian Galloway | July 19, 2011 5:06 PM
I'm sure all the murderers who get their guns and bullets through illegal means anyway will run right out to pay their $1 per bullet tax......not! Meanwhile, all the legally armed citizens will get killed because they can't afford bullets for their guns. I'm also sure someone's been killed by a baseball bat or a pipe. Will he outlaw the Orioles?
Posted by: Brad Pitts | July 20, 2011 6:37 PM