Monday, September 25, 2006

September 25

Cory Harrison, 27, was shot to death on Robb Street in East Baltimore (199).

A Cherry Hill woman awoke in her home Saturday to find a man cutting her throat with a knife.

Three people were shot in the Eastern.

Just when you think the BPD document-shredding scandal couldn't make the department look any worse, three employees say they were paid overtime to do the shredding!

Rod J. Rosenstein says that prosecutors will reveal the complex structure of the MS-13 gang in this week's racketeering trial.

A profile of the Reverend Willie Ray, eulogist to casualties of the drug war.

Lots of stolen vehicles in the Northern last week.

Arundel Mills Mall was evacuated Saturday after some gals left luggage under a bench.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

that's prince william county, virginia, not prince george's county, maryland. PGC had its 79th, 80th, and 81st murders of the year this weekend. it is supremely fucked up over there for a suburban county and there's no way they could go 9 and a half months with only 13 murders.

in my opinion, northern viginia is so far removed from baltimore (not just crime-wise but in terms of pretty much everything) that that story has no right being on here.

Maurice Bradbury said...

oh whoops. That's what I get for skimming.

You're right, if we started getting into DC and beyond the blog would be a full-time job.

Anonymous said...

That Rev. Willie Ray, its nice that he does these street corner vigils. But its sad that he has to notify the press of each one and only does the ones that gather the most public attention. The people who get maybe 20-20 words in all the city's publications are the ones who deserve these things more in my opinion.

I am just glad God doesn't get to choose who he helps by how much press it gets , also glad God doesn't have to notify the local press when he does help.

Sorry , It just sounds wrong to me, like it's for the wrong reasons.

Anonymous said...

plus i mean, virginia sucks.

Anonymous said...

that's one way to look at the rev. willie ray. another way to look at him is: if not him, then who else? i don't think it's sad that he notifies the press; i think it's sad when the press or the public ignores him or passes him off as some kind of dinosaur or crank from a bygone era, which it usually does. in reality, this city probably needs more people like him, now more than ever. can u blame him if he's gotten to the point where he's only organizing the vigils that attract the most media attention? year after year, killing after killing, there's good Ol Willie Ray, organizing a prayer circle. most of us here have been touched by violence in our circle of family or friends. but many of us pack up and go to a better neighborhood or leave the city altogether. but not willie ray...he's a big ol' human warehouse of the memories of suffering in this city for so many families.

murder is now a commodity in this city, in the minds of the public, the media, and our leaders. we should hold all three accountable for this cheapening of each life that ends violently here.

Anonymous said...

i wonder what Rev Willie Ray thinks about the "drug war"... my two cents: the "drug war" has failed this city on so many profound levels. here's just a few: 1) public health. our people are so damn sick and addicted that we're crippled for generations to come 2) criminal justice and the drug game. what a revolving door! clogged courts, overburdened prosecutors, and a police force that can't stem the crushing tide of a whole subclass of people involved in the illicit narcotics trade. 3) Our Constitution (this is connected to #2) has been absolutely shredded when it comes to the Fourth Amendment (freedom from unreasonable search and seizure). Enforcing drug laws inevitably has meant that cops are trying every which way to search you, your car, and your house to make a lockup for a drug arrest. if they find a gun, bonus. 4) All this "drug war" stuff costs bigtime bucks, which have been siphoned away from public health remedies and, as important, our SCHOOLS.

can a leader step up who will just f---ing dump the status quo and try something revolutionary in this hard, hard city? if we're one of the most violent cities in the country, doesn't it stand to reason that our remedy, our cure, our hope for salvation, may lie in some truly radical thinking? who's doing that kind of thinking and planning in this city? this kind of thinking won't come out of our city bureaucracies; it needs to come from people, and from the leaders we nurture and trust. But, it is amazing to see that so many cops with that organization (LEAP, i think) take that view of the drug war. they're the ones on the front lines, so to speak. any thoughts out there?

John Galt said...

Well, let's see. Do I endorse drug use? No.

Could I look the other way if all the effects of drug use are kept away from me (and everyone else)? Yes.


My solution: don't punish drug posessesion or sales. However, you have to punish people rather pointedly if they should happen to a) commit a crime and b) have the drug in their system, because it does mess up your behavior and decisionmaking.

I'm not willing to give someone a pass for a crime because "your honor, I have a drug problem."

If you get ten years for home invasion, then you get twenty for home invasion while under the influence of coke, heroin, meth, etc. I'm not sure pot is really that kinda substance. I'm even open to the (medical) argument to include alchohol in the list. You'd need a straightforward means to bypass the medical side of the 5th Amendment.

I think the way you do it is to provide that if you refuse the drug test, you face an immediate conviction for obstruction at least equal to the difference between the on-drug and off-drug sentences.

But other than that, you may use all the junk in your veins you want.


Another solution, at least locally, would be to create a great, walled user's Ghetto out of West Baltimore, patrolled by choppers and border guards. Once you go in, you need to pass a drug test to get out. Inside, you can do as you please, but you will receive NO public services.

Anonymous said...

hey galt, do you watch the wire?

John Galt said...

No. Isn't it cable or something?

Maurice Bradbury said...

well, we remember what happened to Schmoke whem he wanted to decriminalize. Not to mention cancer patients in California who have permission of the state but not of the government.

Right now we have the worst of both worlds. If you have crackheads next door they'll be arrested but back on the streets in a day.

Whatever the legal solution we must take people away from the blocks they're killing, because one nest of crackheads can ruin a block. How can we stop that?

John Galt said...

Shoot 'em.

Anonymous said...

i asked if you watch the wire because a large portion of season three revolved around the western district commander setting up three areas in his district that were completely abandoned as free zones for drug dealers and users.

anyway, it's a really good show, a lot of the political stuff happening in this season (the 4th) and last season closely mirrors both what happened when o'malley ran for mayor and what is happening now. it is on HBO, but you can rent the dvds or you can very easily download torrents of all the episodes *cough* not that i did that or anything...

John Galt said...

I'm living in a Hollywood nightmare world.

Anonymous said...

One thing the city does not need more of is Rev. Willie Ray's. The man is a broke down, tore up from the floor up, alcoholic, begger. The reason no one supports his efforts is not due to apathy. It is because no one can stand him.

The city needs more unemployed bums, recognizable by the palms of their hands as much as any other physical trait? I think not? What happened to the $250,000 in the 70's? My guess is it was a scam he was running and he is lucky he escaped prosecution.

Rev. Ray is delusional. His first delusion is that he is a reverend. What is sad to me is that the lives of black men in Baltimore are so devalued, demonized, and destroyed, that Rev. Ray is touted as a man, and one we need more of. Sad commentary.

Anonymous said...

Trust me, I have been touched ny the murders in this city, my brother last year to name the most profound and closest to me. But my point is, the public knows about these murders, and just because you may get a 20 second blurb on WJZ, or 30 words in The Sun, the bottom line is the people who care will be doing these things regardless, so why publicize it? That's all I was saying. I never had to call the City Paper nor the Sun to say "Hey, I'm going to be at this corner at this time because my brother was killed here and it's important to me"

I just personally feel like its explotation of a dead person and had he done that for my brother I'd a been a bit more than pissed off.