At the mayor’s fourth public safety forum, this one focused on the city’s Northern District and held at the newly renovated Waverly Library, residents gave Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Interim Police Commissioner Kevin Davis an earful about the recent spike in crime, poor response by police and the impact of unsafe streets on the city’s future.

Bill Cunningham, of Remington, said that the area was drawing new families to the city, but was not likely to be “attracting 10,000 new families” in the future because it is “inundated with petty crimes.”

The city’s response to the surging crime has not been satisfactory, Cunningham said, noting that last week his community experienced a shooting on a corner that was well known to the police.

The shooting was “on one of our corners that I complained bitterly about for some time,” he said.

A new community policing strategy involving foot patrols was a positive step, Cunningham continued, “but we can’t get a [patrol] car in our area.”

Somewhat Understaffed

The frustration in the room echoed sentiments heard across the city this summer, with crimes of many kinds – not just homicides – spiking, and a short-staffed police force often arriving late, if at all.

Cunningham said he has been told by officers in his own precinct that the city police are wildly understaffed.

“I am told that up to 500 officers are not serving because of medical reasons or problems on the job. Is that true what I’m hearing about these 500 officers?” he asked, addressing Davis.

Davis replied that the city couldn’t run 500 officers short, and that the actual number of shortages is  “in the double digits,” specifically referring to officers on no duty or light duty or who are suspended.

He said that the staffing levels are not unique to Baltimore.

Responding to a question about police officers being at “posts,” Davis said the department is returning to that model.

“We went away from posts several months ago, but are going back to it,” he said.

Davis noted that the department was increasing the number of civilian crime analysts employed by the city in order to do a better job solving petty crimes.

“Those are tweaks that. . . will allow us to address quality of life crimes,” he said.

Supervision of 911 Returning to BPD

One meeting attendee, “David” of Charles Village, said he recently called 911 to report a fight in Wyman Park Dell.

After eight rings, he said, the 911 operator failed to pick up. When she called him back ten minutes later, the fight in the Dell was over.

“I’m not entirely sure of the value of 911 if they don’t answer,” he said of the operators, whose performance and reliability has been sharply criticized by residents.

Davis told him the police department was returning 911 dispatchers to the supervision of the Baltimore Police Department.

“They are in the transition process and will be transitioned within the next month or so,” he said, noting that the move would allow the police more “oversight” of the 911 operators.

Rawlings-Blake said she was trying to get more “call takers” hired, which was challenging because they need special training.

“We know that we are short. Call taker turnover is very high,” she said. “They are on the front lines in a different way and under a lot of work stress.”

Mayor Responds

Most residents asked questions about crime, policing and police policy – such as the use of police lights in neighborhoods and how their presence pushes crime a few blocks away.

One man called on city police to make methadone clinics more accountable for the impact their clients have on neighborhoods.

But some also asked about quality of life issues that might contribute to a reduction in crime or prevent crime, such as building more recreation centers, tearing down vacant houses and stopping vagrants who beg for money on the street.

Rawlings-Blake spent at least 10 minutes explaining her plans to sell city parking garages to fund recreation centers and touting various city-supported employment programs.

One resident observed that Baltimore is known all over the world for crime and said the city is “in a state of emergency.”

What resources does the city have to help homeless people, he asked, and what is the city’s policy on begging with a sign on a public street?

The man said he had contacted the police and the mayor’s office with these questions before, and they both passed the buck to each other.

“I’m glad that we have both of you here,” he said to Rawlings-Blake and Davis.

“Would Cut my Head Off”

Rawlings-Blake answered the question two ways.

If panhandling isn’t aggressive and is just “holding up a sign,” she said, “I don’t believe any enforcement action is taken.”

“If someone is aggressively panhandling. . . there are restrictions with that that we enforce,” she said, citing the example of someone begging for money while a person is at an ATM.

In her second response to the question, she said she was going to describe something not everyone wants to hear.  

“Many of the people who are holding up signs are not homeless at all,” she said, but are strategically positioned in communities where they will receive sympathy and funds.

Acknowledging the problems that residents have with panhandlers, the mayor said dealing with beggars was challenging.

“If we tried to move any of them, the individuals and the advocates for the homeless people would cut my head off. They would say I’m trying to hide the issue of homelessness,” she said, continuing:

“We all know there are plenty of people out there [begging] who are not homeless at all, right?”
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Video from City Explainer of August 31 Mayor’s Crime Forum at Baltimore’s Waverly Library