Friday, March 3, 2006

March 3

Joseph Miller, 26, was shot to death in front of a house near Druid Hill and Forest Parks. Also in the blotter, Warrant Task Force was busy, arresting a kidnapping rapist, an attempted murderer and an insurance company defrauder. And someone robbed the Little Tavern again (for at least the third time in a year).

A man's body was found in a burning rowhouse on the West side.

A Federal Grand Jury indicted 28-year-old convicted felon Ronald Ector for impersonating a police officer.

Republican Senator Nancy Jacobs and Democrat Delegate Jill Carter are persuing a law to make it a crime for local police departments to knowingly report false crime statistics. They also want whistleblower protections to shield street-level officers who refuse to report false numbers.

The Sun apparently finds it more newsworthy that some tourists can't find a sushi restaurant than that, oh by the way, the three owners of Kawasaki, Tzu Ming Yang, 48, his wife, Jui Fan Lee Yang, 49, and Jack Chang, 41, all face more than 30 years in prison for money laundering and housing undocumented workers in "squalid" conditions.

The Cordish Co. was fined a paltry $800 for allowing underage drinking at Power Plant Live.

All charges have been dropped against Kevin Ackwood, who spent a month in jail and whose dog Trigger was shot to death by Baltimore City Police officers.

Police are looking for armed-and-dangerous Tracy D. Fletcher of Bowie, wanted for stealing ATM machines.

Perv patrol: Paul George Page, a former teacher at Sykesville Middle School in Carroll County, got no jail time for downloading child pornography on school computers during the school day. And in Columbia, students at Cradlerock School reported a flasher.

Messenger Blotter: a man was jumped while getting on the elevator at Union Memorial Hospital. A car was stolen, recovered, then stolen again the next day.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

what? that pregnant-carjacking-shooting story is like two months old.

Maurice Bradbury said...

Whoops, you're right... it looked like it was dated today, but I see Chuck covered it back in January.

Anonymous said...

what ever happened with that anyway? i remember some of the articles i read about it sort of implied that the cops thought that the dude faked the carjacking and shot his girl himself.

Maurice Bradbury said...

I can't find anything! Which means everyone's still alive and no one's in jail, I guess. It seems like if someone shot themselves in the buttocks it would be pretty obvious.

Unknown said...

Hi all! Hey DC.... I was contacted bvy a writer at the Baltimore Sin who is interested in doing a story about me, my brother and my blog. O just found out so I am kinda excited. Pretty cool huh?

Anonymous said...

Liz,

I just saw your cat-heavy blog. Love it. Mine is my only joy in this crummy city.

If the Sun is doing an article on the process with Sam's case, you might mention that your neighborhood recognized ten years ago that the police weren't really doing it and set up the Charles Village Benefit District tax for additional security. It started with like 19 officers which worked well, but nowadays they only have a staff of three, spread over 100+ square blocks, daytime only, which is meaningless. It's a real bait-and-switch travesty of public finance. Two levels of taxation, and your neighborhood still leads in crime incidence. What're they doing with tax money? Nicey-nicey community projects, festivals,and endless meetings among staffers etc. Not the public safety the Councilman acknowledges it was created for, when the City said it couldn't afford cops. (She sits on its Board, too.)

Must we have a third or fourth tax to finally get coverage?

Seems that way.

Sorry, I'm ranting. I'm Galt. It's what I do.

Maurice Bradbury said...

That's good, Liz! Before you talk to her (or him) know, write down, the main points you want to make-- remember the old PR adage, it doesn't matter what question they ask, what matters is that you hammer home what you have to say in the answer.

Oh man is the "Benefits District" thing is a travesty. I remember getting that tax bill very well- $319 in 1999, which was three weeks' worth of food money to me at the time-- and I'd just had my car broken into 10 times, was calling the police at least once a week, there were Hopkins students peeing and vomiting on my lawn on a regular basis... rat jerky on the street... it's such a scam.

Anonymous said...

omg galt, it is what you do isn't it? Cybrarian, that's great advice and true. Liz, this is the moment to tell your story. Make it yours and make it important! I'm excited for you!--Kevin

Maurice Bradbury said...

... not that I think the "benefits district" has anything to do with Sam's murder. There could have been 50 cops on the block, but if this guy had a vendetta (or whatever) and his hate and drive was so much bigger than his fear of getting caught, it isn't going to matter.

That's the essential problem with the whole "murder rate is high due to lack of police" thing. What we need to do is take very seriously people who show basic disregard for human life, your robbers, people who commit assault-- and make it clear that the cost of hurting other people is very high. Police can arrest every wife-beater on the block, but if judges keep letting them out on parole, what's the use?

And as goofy as it sounded when the O to the M said the murder rate is a cultural thing, there's something to that also. In the culture I was raised in, once you raise your voice, you've lost the argument. Violent people are considered insane. The best way to gain status would be to deal with confrontation quietly ("I understand what you're saying, I'm sorry you feel that way") then using one's power to ruin them by other means (smearing their name in the business world, telling potential suitors they have genital warts, etc.).

In other cultures in the city, it seems, if someone insults someone else and the insulted party doesn't react in some way, they lose status and respect, like (extreme example) Monique Baldwin telling her kid to "handle your business." Or, when I moved to Hampden, two of my neighbors on different occassions told me (with what I swear was pride) that they had been in jail for assault and had rage problems. I guess the thinking is if your neighbors think you're like a powder keg that can blow at any time, they won't mess with you.

InsiderOut said...

what kind of city do we live in when this Pious Porn counts as a church fundraiser?

Anonymous said...

Very few of the people who commit violent crimes commit no others. Only psychos, really. Therefore, if you arrest them for their lower-level criminal behavior and incarcerate thgem, they won't be available to commit violent crime. It's called incapacitation and increased policing is effective under this strategy.

Maurice Bradbury said...

Wow, galt and I agree! I mean... of course we agree, as we're the same person, right?

I covered that porn thing days ago, insider, get with it... *snap* *snap.* I also found some of Kianna Jayde's movies online (did you know you could pay to view porngraphic films online? I had no idea!), but I didn't want the blog to digress too much.

Anonymous said...

Does that mean I'm getting Sybilline blackouts and waking up .... coherent as Cybrarian ?

And with good typewriting skills?

Jeez, tape-record that!

InsiderOut said...

oops, cy. I've been out of the loop. It seemed relevant to the conversation though. The Baltimore culture just needs some real family values education. (I mention this just to get a rise out of simon).

Anonymous said...

I don't think it's about education. If you ask these folks whether it would be right to behave this way toward their siblings, cousins, etc., they'll respond "Hell, no. I wouldn't do that to my blood." But if you ask them if they'd do it to a neighbor a few doors down, they'll grin and admit that that'd be ok, because that lady on the block has no claim on them. They understand antisocial behavior. They just have no experience of any effective enforcement of social norms.

Unknown said...

DC you have a valid point. Around here {Remington{ I have seen people fight for no reason other than "they disrespected me". People seem to have this thinking that violence is a normal and justified response ro any opposition or insult. It's not just Remington or Baltimore, although it seems to be more that way here than anywhere else I've been.

Anonymous said...

Guys,

I just saw a news story on Community Conferencing. One of the sucess stories involved a oman who called in about juveniles engaged in vandalism. When she complained, the responded "If you don't want us to vandalize your property, give us some recreational activities/resources." The community association did so.

When did abiding by basic laws and leaving people alone become some kinda quid pro quo ? I don't understand the thinking in this city. Didn't we used to call that a protection racket ?

InsiderOut said...

C'mon, Galt. If kids don't have rec activities, they are bound to find trouble...I know I did. It's not a protection racket, it's a reality.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, but you don't threaten people with vandalism. And no, I never did that when I was a kid. And god was I ever bored.

If kids don't have rec activities, then they need to go vandalize MOM'S house, not the neighbors. In my neighborhood, the women frequently send misbehaved children into the street so as to protect their abode, knowing that the neighbors will suffer the result. When I was a kid, doing something inappropriate at our house was not going to be well-received, but god help the child of my parents who required that the neighbors call in about what they saw little Johnny do to their property. Dead meat.

On the subject of rec activities, I have supported them in my neighborhood here, with a carrot and stick logic. Some of the kids started vandalizing their new playground. I just wanted to hang them from the yardarm. There are many facilities in this town. Many of the kids (and more so their parents) are too lazy to access them unless they're within a block of the house.

Maurice Bradbury said...

Liz, it's apparently a national trend-- I don't know if you remember this story from the Times... but I've thought a lot about the quote from the police chief in Kansas: ''"f I don't have skills, I don't have training, my socioeconomic situation looks desperate, do I really have hope? ... I think that ties into the anger. If the only thing I have is my respect, that's what I carry on the street. If someone disrespects me, they've done the ultimate to me."
That quote has totally changed my attitude towards all the generally angry and aggressive people in town. If someone's life is so small that their whole ego rests on being able to, like, get in front of me in line at the store, steal my parking place or cut me off when I'm trying to merge... thank god I have a good life whether or not I get the parking place, you know?

Unknown said...

DC I can see your point, but i think about it like this:
I grew up with my mother in Philadelphia poor. Not poor like oh we dont have money for the movies...poor like oh we might get put out or not eat poor. We had roaches, mice... we had no extra money hardly ever. Although my father was/is middle class, we did not live with him, although he helped. I could have been one of those people with no hope. I was put out of high school in 11th grade for fighting the principal's niece. I, at that time had little hope. A few months later I was put into a group home where things didn't exactly become great. I had a somewhat hard life, though some from my own bad choices. I at 20 years old found myself pregnant and no diploma, but I always knew I was smart, I did well in school until I was expelled. I had to tell myself that i didn't want to amount to nithing, and that I was going to get every damn resource I could if I had to beg plead and at times curse out social services and other offices. In 2001 I got my GED with a score of 324, 340 being a perfect ... pleaded my way into a training program, learned more about computers, got a job and kept looking for more training. I went to the library and taught myself to type so I could apply for office and data entry jobs. I did everything in my power to make things better, which is why i don't get why others can't do the same. Sometimes it's just they give up on themselves. I'm a perfect example of that where you come from doesn't make what you become. I have a stable job, I'm not rich, but I pay my bills.
Sorry starting to rant like Galt there {smiles} but my point is hope is always there, to me the question is how bad do we want it?

Maurice Bradbury said...

So yeah, it's not what you "have" materially, but what you get your feeling of self-worth from... For some people (I hope most people) it's family, work, education, but for other people, apparently, it's being the guy that everybody's scared of.

Speaking of surprise pregnancies, as much as I love my little surprise, please spread the word that birth control pills can fail when taken with acid blockers like Tagamet and Pepcid, over-the-counter antacids (like Maalox) and antibiotics.

That has nothing to do with anything. I just tell that to anyone who will listen.

Anonymous said...

Liz, if what you had could be bottled I would want it bottled, studied, and then made as part of a mandatory injection given out at birth, sorta like a vaccine.

Neglect and abuse do very terrible things to people. My guess is that you can look back at one person (at least) in your life who really gave you a lot of hope and guidance or helped to instill that strong character in you. Plus one obvious advantage you have over LOTS of other people is that you're smart. Brains don't get portioned out equally at birth. Nutrition has a lot to do with the developing brain, drugs early on can block formation of neurons that allow for abstract thinking (such as empathy, compassion, etc). All kinds of things affect us.

You've been blessed to have the forsight to do better for yourself.

Cybrarian, I like your blastula. Congratulations. I knew about antibiotics but not the acid blockers.

Galt, nice Sybilline reference.

--Kevin

Unknown said...

yjanks for the heads up DC lol. But Yeah I guess that it takes some sense of self pride to make you want more, and living in a city where murder and poor scholling, limited resources are the norm, must be harf. I remember telling a hifh school teacher I wanted to be a writer. It was a baltimore teacherP I did attend a few years here}...know what they said?

" Yea your smart but you should be realistic and try for something within your grasp. What the fuck is that? I never understood why a teacher would say that, and I never will. Probably misdirected anger? stress? I dunno but had I been anyone else, that might of made me say fuck life.

Anonymous said...

correction--blastocyst

That teach is lucky you weren't someone else and that their neck wasn't what you thought of when they mentioned "something within your grasp" :)

-Kevin

Maurice Bradbury said...

Liz, how horrible a teacher said that to you! Geez! Yeah, I didn't know about the acid blockers either, and it's my business to know! I just stumbled on that in a medical reference book while I was looking for something else. If you're going to do the hormone thing, the patch is the way to go, then you don't have to worry about it.