Baltimore cops are staging a "blue flu" strike. A paid strike. And, perjuring themselves when they submit their timesheets.
1
I wonder how much effort is put into recruiting minorities and women for police work? Is that part of what Baltimore is trying to do? I understand, as the article suggests, that changes take time, and I do wish the people of Baltimore and its police force well. They must never give up seeking fairness and justice!
This article painted a good picture of what is happening in Baltimore, but it did gloss a major issue. 12 hour shifts for current BPD is a lot of ask of a department with close to 1 murder per day. I spoke to a BPD officer a few days ago about the department, and he was telling me how wildly understaffed they are. The city refused to let some officer retire, and forcibly deferred their retirement. There is also a lot of officers that are eligible for retirement in the next few years, and the incoming class of officers is also far too low. BPD may have made grave mistakes in the past, and may continue to do so, but if the city doesn't support them and push for them to perform their duties better, how do we expect the city to improve?
1
I give kudos to the NYTimes for at least showing some of the no-win situations BPD is in: police aggressively in high-crime areas and BPD is viewed as being fraught with institutional racism, police less aggressively and BPD doesn't care about the plight of Baltimoreans living in poor, high-crime areas (this was the cry for years before Martin O'malley became mayor); if BPD makes no attempt to get rid of the bad apples in the dept, there will be bad apples, followed by legitimate complaints by citizens; if BPD investigates and weeds out bad cops, it's fuel for the media and evidence in the minds of many citizens of a thoroughly corrupt institution.
Based on all the comments over the last few years re: policing in Baltimore, it's clear that most people believe what they want to believe when reading media coverage. So while I know there's no convincing people, I'll say it anyway: in the long list of problems faced by the citizens of Baltimore, the Baltimore police is pretty far down the list.
Based on all the comments over the last few years re: policing in Baltimore, it's clear that most people believe what they want to believe when reading media coverage. So while I know there's no convincing people, I'll say it anyway: in the long list of problems faced by the citizens of Baltimore, the Baltimore police is pretty far down the list.
8
Talk to any resident and if they trust you you will learn that the killers behind almost every murder are locally known. By almost everyone. Yet no one wants to be seen talking to the police.
So the murders go on, and the residents complain, and the killers are on the loose.
So the murders go on, and the residents complain, and the killers are on the loose.
10
Urban public schools are also seeing this sort of "Ferguson effect."
Under the Obama administration, the decree was set forth that too many black and Hispanic kids were being suspended. To avoid federal sanctions, schools now require students and teachers to tolerate extreme disruption and violence from kids.
Experienced teachers and strong students flee to the suburbs, which further destabilizes the urban schools and provides an opening for the worst kids to take over. Inexperienced (and often ineffective) teachers are brought in, but the increasingly-severe discipline issues drive them away, which again fuels instability. A vicious cycle ensues.
The strongest, most effective teachers won't go anywhere near these schools. It's a frustrating, thankless experience to work in them, so the schools descend into chaos. The teachers who do stay get blamed.
Under the Obama administration, the decree was set forth that too many black and Hispanic kids were being suspended. To avoid federal sanctions, schools now require students and teachers to tolerate extreme disruption and violence from kids.
Experienced teachers and strong students flee to the suburbs, which further destabilizes the urban schools and provides an opening for the worst kids to take over. Inexperienced (and often ineffective) teachers are brought in, but the increasingly-severe discipline issues drive them away, which again fuels instability. A vicious cycle ensues.
The strongest, most effective teachers won't go anywhere near these schools. It's a frustrating, thankless experience to work in them, so the schools descend into chaos. The teachers who do stay get blamed.
10
I agreed with those who suggested sending the army into Chicago
to remove as many guns as they could find and to track the movements
of those who cause the violence.
I have to say, I recommend the same with Baltimore.
There is a war going on in our inner-cities and we just sit around
and wonder what we should do.
to remove as many guns as they could find and to track the movements
of those who cause the violence.
I have to say, I recommend the same with Baltimore.
There is a war going on in our inner-cities and we just sit around
and wonder what we should do.
3
It is far past time to get in to the uncomfortable topic of why black neighborhoods need aggressive policing or they descend into violent chaos. You can hear it in the article, and even more in the responses, everyone including the black people that live in these neighborhoods is able to see it, but no one can talk about it. Please have some journalistic courage and lets start opening up the social tool box and get into the dysfunction that is endemic in black communities and far less common in asian and european communities. Lets begin an honest dialogue about this. The black community is a slow motion public relations disaster that the news and crime stats chronicle every night, we need some honest answers about why this is that do not involve slavery and the other cliche answers.
14
So it is finally okay to say crime in many areas is increasing? At least someone is living in reality and admitting there is a problem. It is clear that The System is not working in Baltimore or Chicago and something different needs to be put in place. Education and jobs really do help reduce crime. Having a living income also helps. If I have food, shelter, and medical care and these things are a constant, I will not need to become an entrepreneur by run my own mobile corner sky high store just to survive.
People need to start taking responsibility for their actions and the actions of their kids. They can fix this problem without outside help. The message needs to be racists do not need the help of minorities to destroy their minority communities.
People need to start taking responsibility for their actions and the actions of their kids. They can fix this problem without outside help. The message needs to be racists do not need the help of minorities to destroy their minority communities.
3
Watch the movie The Keepers and see how the Catholic Church conspired with the Baltimore police department from the bottom up to hide rape and murder. The interview with the Baltimore AG was absolutely chilling. She epitomized the idea of, "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" with her pathetic excuses for doing nothing in the face of dozens and dozens of very specific accusations. Justice is hard to find when the entire power structure is rigged against truth.
2
Greetings from my bunker in Baltimore City ....the NY Times favorite post apocalyptic subject piece...heck its a 2 hour Amtrak ride. This article is mostly accurate but there are two big dots that need to be connected. Baltimore has been a hub of the Mid- Atlantic heroin trade for generations. It is no small coincidence that the spike in opiate addiction/overdoses in Maryland, West Virginia, etc have mirrored the spike in violence here. In nearby Appalachia they call I 70 the "Heroin Highway" for a reason. New Yorkers can remember when you had 2K plus murders a year during the bad old crack epidemic days. The current crop of dealers is pretty much amoral,even shocking some old timers with their inability to follow the rules. The Ferguson effect...maybe, but more like the Fentanyl Effect.
4
A neighborhood gets the police force it deserves. It can be good, bad, effective or not. It depends on the citizens. The folks in Baltimore are getting what they deserved. Note: the Justice Department report was issued to cover up the city prosecutors dismal failure to prosecute/persecute cops in the Gray case. A legacy of the Obama administration.
7
Residence in a "high crime" area does not make a citizen a criminal or any less deserving of the kind of policing anyone else would expect.
There is one crucial factor in ending the cycle of violence seen is some of our cities, and it's not stopping and frisking people in hopes of having the dumb luck to catch someone on their way to a shooting. It is bringing violent criminals to swift and sure justice. Without that, the violent criminal becomes the de facto law in these communities.
Sure, "everybody knows" who's doing the shooting. That's the point, to gain power through a public display of fear and intimidation. If those people are not taken off the street, people are not going to risk their lives coming forward to talk to the police or testify in court. These are not people who have the means or are in a position to quit jobs and move to another city to start over, nor are resouces made available to help them. They have to return to their neighborhoods to face friends and relatives of the people they testified against.
There is one crucial factor in ending the cycle of violence seen is some of our cities, and it's not stopping and frisking people in hopes of having the dumb luck to catch someone on their way to a shooting. It is bringing violent criminals to swift and sure justice. Without that, the violent criminal becomes the de facto law in these communities.
Sure, "everybody knows" who's doing the shooting. That's the point, to gain power through a public display of fear and intimidation. If those people are not taken off the street, people are not going to risk their lives coming forward to talk to the police or testify in court. These are not people who have the means or are in a position to quit jobs and move to another city to start over, nor are resouces made available to help them. They have to return to their neighborhoods to face friends and relatives of the people they testified against.
1
Every neighborhood deserves professional policing, without exception.
I'm sure the police who gave Freddie Gray a "rough ride" in a police wagon and failed to render medical aid didn't intend to kill him. They probably just wanted to have a little "fun" and maybe "teach him a lesson."
Gray was arrested for running from the police and for carrying a small knife in his pocket.
He didn't deserve to die because of those things. But his neck was broken during what should have been a simple ride to a police station.
It's that kind of behavior that erodes public confidence in the police and makes the job of good cops harder.
Police will do whatever they can get away with or whatever they think has the tacit approval of their bosses. If failing to belt someone into a var or police car results in the loss of three vacation days that nonsense stops immediately.
Going farther, it makes sense to use traffic laws to stop motorists in areas where drugs are sold or people are being shot. But people expect cops to use common sense and discretion when they make stops.
Sandra Bland should have gotten a ticket and been sent on her way. She shouldn't have been threatened with getting "lit up" with a taser.
Really, a police force gets the neighborhood it deserves. If you abuse people, you'll lose the faith of the average, honest citizen. And then they won't be there when you need them. And you'll wonder why they all look at you with hate in their eyes.
I'm sure the police who gave Freddie Gray a "rough ride" in a police wagon and failed to render medical aid didn't intend to kill him. They probably just wanted to have a little "fun" and maybe "teach him a lesson."
Gray was arrested for running from the police and for carrying a small knife in his pocket.
He didn't deserve to die because of those things. But his neck was broken during what should have been a simple ride to a police station.
It's that kind of behavior that erodes public confidence in the police and makes the job of good cops harder.
Police will do whatever they can get away with or whatever they think has the tacit approval of their bosses. If failing to belt someone into a var or police car results in the loss of three vacation days that nonsense stops immediately.
Going farther, it makes sense to use traffic laws to stop motorists in areas where drugs are sold or people are being shot. But people expect cops to use common sense and discretion when they make stops.
Sandra Bland should have gotten a ticket and been sent on her way. She shouldn't have been threatened with getting "lit up" with a taser.
Really, a police force gets the neighborhood it deserves. If you abuse people, you'll lose the faith of the average, honest citizen. And then they won't be there when you need them. And you'll wonder why they all look at you with hate in their eyes.
8
[[If failing to belt someone into a van or police car results in the loss of three vacation days that nonsense stops immediately.]]
And by that I mean EVERYONE who responds to a call loses vacation days. Because the driver will say "I didn't know" and the arresting officer will say "He was fine when I handed him over."
So, the knucklehead drug dealer being arrested for the 50th time still gets belted in and the van driver can't get cute because he doesn't want to catch grief from his peers for being unprofessional.
Think of it like the football player who gets a penalty for unnecessary roughness...his team mates yell at him, the coaches yell at him and the fans boo him.
And by that I mean EVERYONE who responds to a call loses vacation days. Because the driver will say "I didn't know" and the arresting officer will say "He was fine when I handed him over."
So, the knucklehead drug dealer being arrested for the 50th time still gets belted in and the van driver can't get cute because he doesn't want to catch grief from his peers for being unprofessional.
Think of it like the football player who gets a penalty for unnecessary roughness...his team mates yell at him, the coaches yell at him and the fans boo him.
2
Training the police differently isn't going to drive down crime, or more patrols, etc. These are political gimmicks intended to mimic significant action on the part of so-called city leaders.
The community in which this gun crime is occurring has to change. I live in a 99% white neighborhood, and suspect at least half the individuals in my neighborhood own guns. And, yet, there are very few, if any, shootings in my neighborhood, and none that I can recall committed by those who live in my neighborhood. Why? Because were taught it is wrong to shoot someone without legal justification, and see it as a bad thing to shoot someone as a general proposition. We don't work out our disagreements in that fashion. And if a crime were to be committed in our neighborhood the criminals know that we saw who did it we would absolutely identify them to the police and go to court to testify against them.
The people who live in my neighborhood don't necessarily think the police are perfect, but we know we have to work with them.
It is really pretty simple.
The community in which this gun crime is occurring has to change. I live in a 99% white neighborhood, and suspect at least half the individuals in my neighborhood own guns. And, yet, there are very few, if any, shootings in my neighborhood, and none that I can recall committed by those who live in my neighborhood. Why? Because were taught it is wrong to shoot someone without legal justification, and see it as a bad thing to shoot someone as a general proposition. We don't work out our disagreements in that fashion. And if a crime were to be committed in our neighborhood the criminals know that we saw who did it we would absolutely identify them to the police and go to court to testify against them.
The people who live in my neighborhood don't necessarily think the police are perfect, but we know we have to work with them.
It is really pretty simple.
24
Yes, it's all 'pretty simple' in your '99% white community'. What precisely was your point Mr. Doyle in noting the racial make-up of your community?
Well, congratulations on having a good relationship with the police.
In Baltimore, body camera footage has shown them planting drugs to make false arrests.
Tell me why someone should trust a police force that allows that to happen. And tell me why that behavior shouldn't indicate there are massive structural problems with the police force.
Have a nice day.
In Baltimore, body camera footage has shown them planting drugs to make false arrests.
Tell me why someone should trust a police force that allows that to happen. And tell me why that behavior shouldn't indicate there are massive structural problems with the police force.
Have a nice day.
So, Ray Kelly, co-director of No Boundaries Coalition, blames the police for avoiding certain areas of Baltimore allowing anarchy to take over. He is basically saying that without law enforcement, people in these areas lack the morality to know right from wrong. Is it the fault of the police that someone in Baltimore beat a 97 year old WWII veteran to death as reported in the Washington Post yesterday? The police need to reform themselves, but so do many of the people who live in Baltimore.
31
Baltimore is literally a checkerboard, white square, black square, all throughout the town. White, nice, funky, relatively safe; black, trotters in the grocery store if there was a grocery store, and not so safe. How do you fix that? Air conditioning was a good start twenty years ago. They used to close schools if it was 90 degrees before 9 AM.
It would be a great service if the NYTimes were to put its great investigative journalism forces to finding out why Baltimore and Chicago and St. Louis, among other larger American cities, have such high murder rates.
14
I believe I can tell you why the murder rates in the places you mention are high. These cities have a high concentration of black residence areas. The people who live there have very high unemployment, active drug trafficking and poor schools. The social conditions there have not changed in generations. As a result. violence is a way of life.
If police happen to try to intercede in an episode, they are branded as being anti black if they take appropriate action against the felons they approach, since most of the perpetrators are black. If they stay away and let the situations take their natural course, they are castigated by the idea that they are not doing their job. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.
These neighborhoods have to clean themselves up. No one else can do it. A sense of neighborhood pride is a start.
If police happen to try to intercede in an episode, they are branded as being anti black if they take appropriate action against the felons they approach, since most of the perpetrators are black. If they stay away and let the situations take their natural course, they are castigated by the idea that they are not doing their job. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.
These neighborhoods have to clean themselves up. No one else can do it. A sense of neighborhood pride is a start.
6
I live right outside of Paterson, NJ which also has a higher rate of homicide than the south side of Chicago. In Paterson it is very clear what the problem is: typically white wealthier drug users from the suburbs come to Paterson to buy drugs. It is the drug trade that then drives the territorial disputes which drives the violence. The city of Paterson has been waging a long struggle to get the (much wealthier) suburban towns to assist in policing the (much poorer) city neighborhoods.
Unless and until the upper and upper-upper middle class in America acknowledge their complicity in the drug trade, the violence in inner cities, where the drugs are actually traded, will continue.
Unless and until the upper and upper-upper middle class in America acknowledge their complicity in the drug trade, the violence in inner cities, where the drugs are actually traded, will continue.
"It’s almost like they’re allowing anarchy to happen"
It's not almost like it. It's exactly like it. They do less work and laugh as their critics die at twice the rate.
I guess they've been thrown in the brier patch?
It's not almost like it. It's exactly like it. They do less work and laugh as their critics die at twice the rate.
I guess they've been thrown in the brier patch?
1
No, they were thrown under the bus.
Six police lives ruined by Baltimores need to scapegoat cops to quell rioting and we need to wonder why crime and disorder has surged? Pathetic..
13
And yet you completely ignore the seven officers arrested and charged by the U.S. Attorney's office for planting evidence, robbing and framing alleged drug dealers and inflating overtime while on vacation. Two of whom have already pled guilty.
1
It is a continuous chicken and egg scenario; Is there a tax base to fund a police department that floods a problem district with officers (in particular foot patrols), or does the flooding have to occur first so the people move there to create the tax base ?
Then of course, there is the obvious ; the training. ( so that when the officers are on duty, they are not the law breakers as well )
Blue before green or Green before blue ?
Then of course, there is the obvious ; the training. ( so that when the officers are on duty, they are not the law breakers as well )
Blue before green or Green before blue ?
Given the attitude of "activists" and politicians against the police, it is hard to imagine why anyone would want to be a cop.
The Ferguson effect is alive and well.
The Ferguson effect is alive and well.
19
Ferguson revealed a pattern of abuse by municipalities who used traffic citations and court costs to pad their budgets. When protests erupted, the police resorted to military tactics...tear gas, armored vehicles and rifles. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2730378/Police-officer-pointed-r...
3
92% of the YTD total of 212 Baltimore homicides affect the Black community despite their share of the population of 63%.
http://data.baltimoresun.com/news/police/homicides/
This is trending towards for 363 homicides for the year - even more than last year and even worse than the internecine warfare in Chicago neighborhoods.
And the problem is the police?
http://data.baltimoresun.com/news/police/homicides/
This is trending towards for 363 homicides for the year - even more than last year and even worse than the internecine warfare in Chicago neighborhoods.
And the problem is the police?
17
Too many cops - oppression. Too few cops - indifference. How come the BLM crowd is not to be seen? No political gains to be made?
4
The police force in Baltimore is majority black and hispanic.
http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/14/most-baltimore-cops-are-minorities/
Here's a map of Baltimore homicides...you can update the map for different years, ages, race, gender, but the pattern of shootings remains the same. Most of the victims are black and male.
http://data.baltimoresun.com/news/police/homicides/index.php?show_result...
And, yes, the police are part of the problem.
http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/14/most-baltimore-cops-are-minorities/
Here's a map of Baltimore homicides...you can update the map for different years, ages, race, gender, but the pattern of shootings remains the same. Most of the victims are black and male.
http://data.baltimoresun.com/news/police/homicides/index.php?show_result...
And, yes, the police are part of the problem.
WELL SAID - Reality is Harsh! So let's take the Police out of the equation since "oh they're clearly the problem" and let the Good People of Baltimore come together as Brothers & Sisters and Work it all out !!!
1
It's called "The Ferguson Effect".
3
Thanks for that profound commentary.
How many years has the Baltimore PD been trying to change? Seems like decades now. I'll believe it after it happens.
2
Today seeing a cop in the neighborhood is almost as bad as seeing a criminal in the neighborhood...because most cops are criminals with a badge and a license to kill...with complete impunity.
3
I saw this on the HBO series "The Wire."
In November 2014, Baltimore's then mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake ....noted how far Baltimore has come since The Wire concluded its five-season run in 2008, including progress made on reducing crime and increasing the city's population.
I just can't agree with every Democrat.
In November 2014, Baltimore's then mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake ....noted how far Baltimore has come since The Wire concluded its five-season run in 2008, including progress made on reducing crime and increasing the city's population.
I just can't agree with every Democrat.
12
remember, its always easiest to blame "the other".
1
Arrests drop because of the Ferguson effect, and violence worsens, and yet "no one can say" whether the two are linked. Reminds me of when an attacker yells God is great! when blowing up Westerners and yet "no one can say" what the attacker's motive might have been.
39
this article is pretty funny. Baltimore has one of the nation's highest murder rates and the NY Times concentrates on the misdeeds of the police instead of gang bangers and drug dealers. No doubt once the police are "cleaned up" that sky high crime committed by these goons will disappear. Just hilarious.
54
If the police are criminals how is empowering them any better than leaving the non-police criminals alone.
3
I wonder just how much time police officers spend with computer based training that is actually just First-Person-Shooter video games remade for police departments. These games, I have learned, are all based on the model of "Kill or be Killed" scenarios. With that kind of "training" filling their brains, when they go out on the streets, everyone is out to kill them and they are terrified.
I've looked at many of the dash and body camera recordings on TV and what I see are officers wound up tight as they approach anyone. If their brains are already wired to believe that everyone is out to kill them and that they are still in that video training it is little wonder that we have a real problem with police-community relations.
Perhaps it is time for police departments to look closely at how they are training their officers (or if their officers are spending lots of their downtime with First Person Shooter games).
The vast majority of humans are not a threat to anyone. Yes it is hard to distinguish who's-who in a stressful situation but if you're already pre-programed to assume that everyone is your enemy... Tragedy is inevitable.
I've looked at many of the dash and body camera recordings on TV and what I see are officers wound up tight as they approach anyone. If their brains are already wired to believe that everyone is out to kill them and that they are still in that video training it is little wonder that we have a real problem with police-community relations.
Perhaps it is time for police departments to look closely at how they are training their officers (or if their officers are spending lots of their downtime with First Person Shooter games).
The vast majority of humans are not a threat to anyone. Yes it is hard to distinguish who's-who in a stressful situation but if you're already pre-programed to assume that everyone is your enemy... Tragedy is inevitable.
12
perhaps the real rate reason for this disgraceful crime rate needs to be mentioned, not the police but gang bangers and drug dealers. They are the real source of the problem, not the police. Its time for the NY Times to become realistic, for once, in its reporting and stop playing the racial card.
12
Training is at the heart of this problem. It should be ongoing with measured goals and involve the community.
Whether that is true or not, there are clearly cops out of control. Several years ago I was driving in a very upscale neighborhood. I had a late model nice (not luxury) car. I am white, female, and late middle age. Totally non-threatening. Never the less, when I was confused by the signage at a detour, the cop (young enough to be my grandson!) was nasty and downright abusive towards me. Imagine how he would react to someone who he perceived as threatening.
After Eric Gardner was killed I argued with my brother - a hard core conservative - about the circumstances. After some very heated discussion he told me a tale of a cop having it out for him. The straw that broke the camel's back was the cop writing him a ticket for not wearing a seat belt WHILE HE WAS GASSING UP HIS TRUCK! The cop also proceeded to rifle through his glove box while he was in paying for his gas.
My brother had some "juice" in his state the cop was fired. But my brother's ah-hah moment was thinking about if he was poor and had no "juice".
Not all cops are bad by any means (I sincerely believe this - in fact I think most are really great people), but not all people who are harassed are bad people either. We must keep an open mind and look at the evidence, and not group people by stereotypes.
After Eric Gardner was killed I argued with my brother - a hard core conservative - about the circumstances. After some very heated discussion he told me a tale of a cop having it out for him. The straw that broke the camel's back was the cop writing him a ticket for not wearing a seat belt WHILE HE WAS GASSING UP HIS TRUCK! The cop also proceeded to rifle through his glove box while he was in paying for his gas.
My brother had some "juice" in his state the cop was fired. But my brother's ah-hah moment was thinking about if he was poor and had no "juice".
Not all cops are bad by any means (I sincerely believe this - in fact I think most are really great people), but not all people who are harassed are bad people either. We must keep an open mind and look at the evidence, and not group people by stereotypes.
Serious question: which cities with high rates of violent crime have Republican mayors/leadership? (I'm not a Republican, btw).
21
Indy.
3
None...
4
Indianapolis. A homicide almost daily. Just lost two peace officers, one shot, one run over. Yet the mayor is white and Republican.
1