Friday, October 30, 2009

Two more homicides

... a man stabbed on Edmonson Avenue and a man shot on the 24th who died.

A fine for Robert Lipscomb, an apology, some community service and a "my wife is truly a great person."
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7 comments:

Cham said...

Here we are end of October and we are at 184, which means we will most likely surpass 200 murders for the year.

So today we have a stabbing and shooting, result in deaths. Men, of course, probably black and probably with a long rap sheet themselves. In fact, this is so often the case that these victims have almost become invisible, they exist as a number on a very long list. The list will be archived on January 1, 2010 and we will start a new list that will pretty much look like the old list, with a bunch of Davids, Tavons, Gregories, Michaels and Charles on it. Regardless of who says what, who promises what or sweeping changes as in zero tolerance, real time crime stats, twitter posts or precinct reorganization. Another day, another unsuccessful BS idea.

If we wanted to stop the carnage, we would. But we don't. What we really want is to feel safe, so that is what we ask for from the police. And that is what we get. Does it ever occur to any of you that the police department merely wants the squeaky wheels to quit squeaking. So they send the bulk of the police force to be very visible in squeaky wheel neighborhoods: Fed Hill, Fells Point, Canton and Roland Park. The neighborhoods that actually have crime get less, or maybe just like pizza, the 30 minute or less plan, cops only when needed.

This is why we end up with 8 officers on the Gwynns Falls trail and 10 on the Promenade. Not so many on Edmondson Ave.

Carry on people, nobody listens to me anyway.

Fri Oct 30, 06:35:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...

this city shouldn't go soft on corruption. that mayor has been into alot of dirty deeds type stuff since she took office. she's been a real disappointment to alot of people in this city that supported her. this guy was basically getting contracts based on bribes and sleeping with the mayor.

Fri Oct 30, 07:09:00 PM EDT
buzoncrime said...

Sorry, Cham---While you may have some high visibility in the Inner Harbor and on the promenade there, along with some cops in Fed Hill, and Fells Point, and Mt. Vernon, the latter 3 areas are drunken-frat-boy/party control areas.

There are hundreds of officers assigned to the Violent Crime Impact Division, along with dozens assigned to task forces like the Monument Street Initiative, Pennsylvania Avenue Initiative and the Tri-district Task Force (Western, Southwest, Southern area). They are all deployed in an effort to stop folks like you mentioned from killing and shooting each other.

Taxpaying areas like Roland Park, Homeland, Guilford, Mt. Washington and Bolton Hill actually get very little police patrol: ya gotta call.

Fri Oct 30, 07:34:00 PM EDT
Cham said...

Okay, Buzoncrime, think logically. If the crime rate goes down, what happens to the police department budget? It will shrink as well. If the crime rate goes up, so does the budget. More money, more police officers. There is no incentive for the police department to reduce crime.

If we paid the police on commission, less crime more money, I bet you would see some real enthusiasm by the police department to tackle the challenge.

Fri Oct 30, 07:42:00 PM EDT
buzoncrime said...

Dear Cham---well, I guess in a truly cynical, hard-nosed sort of way, I suppose there is a certain charming logic to what you're saying. Perhaps that's the way an economist thinks about it. I dunno ( a technical term).
In fact, I understand the commissioner has provisions in his contract for just such objective-based bonuses. I understand majors and above were promised similar bonuses/raises if certain benchmarks were met. Unfortunately, since the economy collapsed, apparently no members of the command staff (except maybe Bealefeld) are getting raises or bonuses; in fact, they're getting furlough days.

If those guys (and some gals) in those plainclothes squads I mentioned don't produce, their butts get sent back to uniformed patrol (which many officers do their darndest to get out of asap); they lose their take-home cars (the ones on federal drug task forces), and their mucho dinero for "clothing allowance" for wearing plain clothes (which they love anyway), they lose their bs court time, ability to work overtime, and might actually have to work Sundays during football season, and, oh my god, they might then have to work midnight shift! So, there is every incentive to put out, roll out, and be a real knocker and seize guns and go after bad guys and work wires and do search warrants and stuff.
Bye and bye, you eventually get some bad guys locked up.
It's sort of consistent with an economic model, isn't it?
By the way, commission is how the police in Mexico and Russian work; don't try that here on the next time you're pulled over something.

And, in truth (at least by the official reported crime), crime is pretty much down across the board in the city, and last year murders were at a many-year low. We'll see what the stats are at the end of the year. They still don't see much police patrol in Mt. Washington or Roland Park; yep 30-minutes or less, usually, but not guaranteed.

Fri Oct 30, 10:08:00 PM EDT
Cham said...

I don't consider 184 murdered people in a city with 600,000 residents okay. Maybe you do but I don't. I guess I'm quirky that way.

Sat Oct 31, 06:59:00 AM EDT
buzoncrime said...

You're right, Cham! It ain't good, but it's better to be somewhat into the 200s in killings than well into the 300s.
And you're right to be chagrined about it. And yes, I cannot deny that there is an issue of poverty and social inequality present in society in general, that the police sometimes reflect.

But that's the larger issue: it's not just a police problem--though your initial comment seemed to pose it as that: if only the cops would protect East Baltimore like they do Federal Hill, et al. It's a simplistic notion, but the level of cops this poor city can afford cannot match the deep bench of the criminal and violence element here.
The city (large parts of it anyway) are suffused with poverty, poorly-educated men, the shadow world of an illegal drug culture, and a value system which glorifies toughness and violence to prove you are. Mix all that in with anger or slights seen as attacks on your manhood, money, women as objects, ready access to guns, along with a broken, unwieldy criminal justice system, and you have a toxic mix. The role of the police are, in the absence of real community, to keep a lid on this and provide certain criminal justice services.
And, no, none of us, even me, are happy that we have one of the highest crime cities in the wealthiest state in the country.

Sat Oct 31, 10:40:00 AM EDT

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