Friday, November 11, 2005

November 11

An unidentified man was found shot to death near Wyman Park at 3732 Tudor Arms Ave. (I think one can assume in the Northern "not from this neighborhood" = "black")

Florida police arrested Ellis Lee Hickman Jr., wanted for the murder of Rakiyya States in Overlea. States was found in her flaming house in the bathtub with her fingertips cut off.

The body of a man found under the 29th street bridge Nov. 1 was identified as Bradley Wilkinson, 27, of Pennsylvania. He'd allegedly robbed a bank five days prior.

Terrance Wynn, 21, was found not guilty of the murder of 15-year-old Marshall Giles.

Police have no leads in the October 25 fatal stabbing of Jermaine Morrison, 24.

Stephan High, 22, was charged with first-degree murder in the mistaken-identity stabbing of William Green III, 19.

PGCo jurors: death a-ok for Kenneth Jamal Lighty, who kidnapped and killed the 19-year-old son of a police officer.

An 18-year-old shot in the right eye, an attempted murder arrest, shooting suspects at large and plenty of robberies and burglaries in the blotter.

Norman Johnson, 47, got 12 1/2 years after he pleaded guilty to attempted carjacking.

An eight-year-old boy was almost abducted in White Marsh, but the plucky lad escaped by landing a well-placed kick to the kneecap of his dark-clad would-be captor.

A Loyola dorm room was burgled.

PG county's 151st homicide was a fatal shooting in Landover. Also, three family members in Ellicott City pled guilty to importing counterfeit NASCAR and Lord of the Rings merchandise.

Two Towson high schools were on lockdown this morning after police recieved a report of a person with a gun.

Murder in Baltimore County is up by a whopping 10 percent!

In Cecil County a police chase led to a fatal accident and the death of a DVD pirate.

At a 12-year-old girl was arrested for phoning in a phony bomb threat to Frederick Middle School.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was just watching wjz news, which reported the murder of a MD teen at Va. Tech. The station referred back to the Trinh and Elster murders at Hopkins.

I don't mean to be insensitive (who, me?), but why is it that the murder of a young white out-of-state undergrad is so shocking, when so many other murders of (generally more darkly complected) noncriminals go absolutely unnoticed (except here, of course).

I wonder what would change around my neighborhood if the 'pretty people' had to live with what we live with around here. I bet we'd see some more cops if Biff and Buffy moved into the 'hood.

Oops, forgive the rant, guys.

Maurice Bradbury said...

Well, here in Hampden (and in Canton and Federal Hill), Biff and Buffy have moved into the 'hood. The body of Nick Marsalek was found under a bridge and was only reported in the Hampden Happenings, and a body on somebody's doorstep on Tudor Arms Ave. only registered a paragraph, and that guy found under the 29th street bridge was totally unreported here, only reported in his hometown newspaper in Pennsylvania. Of course this negilgent reporting is a tiny oversights compared to the 200-something black 20-somethings who get nothing... but is it a shocker that we live in a big multi-tiered Brazilian-style class and race system? Is that news? Anyway, this pretty person complains all the time. 311 is on autodial. Is Hampden better and cleaner for my efforts than when I moved in 2 1/2 years ago? No, it's as filthy and disgusting as ever with kids playing on playgrounds covered with broken glass and chock full of junkies. And as soon as something sufficiently sketchy happens, like my car window gets broken enough times or I get mugged on the way to the mailbox, my 325xi and I are going to Carroll County or perhaps Atlanta, and I'll rent out the house to tenants who will no doubt trash it. Repeat with Biff and Buffy or Claire and Cliff Huxtable until all of downtown is nothing but a few large hotels in a fenced-off military zone, and outside tribes fighting to the death in Africa, Iraq and Croatia-like ethnic and tribal conflicts. That's why it's always a good idea to invest in real estate and why suburban sprawl will be with us always. The end. Vote Duncan!

Anonymous said...

Seems I hit... a nerve. Apparently, even Biff an' Buffy don't rate civilized law enforcement. Perhaps I should have said Peter Angelos an' John Paterakis.

The blogmaster and I seem to be neighbors in the Northern Dysfunction... I mean, District.

I have tremendous sympathy for those who listened to our snakeoil salesman of a Mayor and Believed themselves into massive mortgages for a lil' slice of ... Hampden ?? only to find that the Land of the Hons is also the land of the Huns.

Personally, I've been very leary of him and taken the view that I'll show him when he shows me. Still waitin', Yer Honor.

Like Network's Howard Beale (see the movie if this isn't familiar), 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more."

I'd like to organize all those who are pissed at being deceived to yell that on the plaza outside City Hall until Marty comes out and faces the music. He got into office promising Zero Tolerance on crime. I guess his notion of zero was learned in a Baltimore City Public School math class, 'cuz last time I checked it was a real small number. Any takers for some ol' fashioned civil disobedience?
What's the worst that could happen? In Balto., storekeepers standing in front of their stores are arrested for loitering, so I've got nothing to lose either way, right?
I'd offer candidate Duncan a front row seat at the sit-in.

Maurice Bradbury said...

Well, to be fair to the Northern, compared to what people in other major cities pay mortgage-wise you can still be centrally located and get a lot for your money. And while someone may show up dead on your front lawn, it's unlikely that it'll be someone you know.

Anonymous said...

Heck no. Apply the following simplification: suppose the sums you pay for service costs on equivalent housing are in exchange for municipal services. The municipal service in question is the 'distance' of your violent crime from a practical maximum of 8 times the national average.

A slate of east coast cities (usual suspects) has a service cost of 25% annually in taxes plus interest on a price index of 1.5 times the national average in exchange for crime which is 54%reduced from the peak level.

Baltimore, on the other hand, will annually cost you 30% of the price you pay in exchange for crime contained at 25% of peak.

What this back of the envelope model demonstrates, then, is that you should be willing to pay about 2.5 times as much to live in a city elsewhere as to live here, ceteris paribus. By that standard, Baltimore is not much of a deal.

Now, there are other considerations than crime. Wage rates, COLAs, and (dare I mention) quality of public schools, but none of these argues in favor of Baltimore.

Oh, and I haven't calculated the fertilizer value of blood on the front lawn donated by kind strangers.

Anonymous said...

So, yes, Baltimore has been cheap. However, if you're not getting at least a 60% discount on comparable housing in another city, you're getting ripped-off. For whom is this a good deal otherwise? For those accustomed to violence. And garbage. Baltimore is strategically advantaged to cater to those who are ok with being in a war zone. Congrats, Marty. Yer a genius.

Anonymous said...

As for the Northern, last week my neighbor heard her window break. The house was entered and property was removed. It went on for quite a while. She was terrified and locked her bedroom door, calling the police.

They came about an hour later. They asked if she could describe the perps and she explained that she had tried very hard NOT to encounter them.

Since she couldn't identify the home invaders and they were gone (an hour delay will do that for a felon), the officer declined to write any incident report. Not forgot. Refused.

IT NEVER HAPPENED. At least as far as the police are concerned. So yes, statistically, Northern has less crime than the Corner. But then again, Northern lies. It is not unique in that respect.

Crime is not down. Crime reports are down. Partly because police won't take them, partly because they take too long to get there, and partly because victims learn after the first few incidents that they are wasting their time, so they just don't bother thereafter.

And the administration doesn't give a damn, either. Just try contacting the Commander. Learn why he is known as Invisible Steve.

People: your police department is engaged in a campaign of disinformation. Even the FBI has rejected Martin O'Malley's crime numbers. It's even worse than you know, once you see it from the ground. Amazingly, the BCPD is actually in worse shape now than I've ever seen it in 20 years. And this from someone who is favorably inclined toward law enforcement.

Anonymous said...

from the blotter:

Over the weekend, BCPD officer Robert Hayes was shot pursuing suspects on the 1700 block of Montpelier in CHM, in North Baltimore. Cops need backup, so we need many more cops if they're going to be deployed in places like CHM.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.briefs14nov14,1,6008699.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

Anonymous said...

Before you get more cops for the streets, we need better traiing for the ones we have. Have you seen the number of cases the SAO throws out each month?

Maurice Bradbury said...

Honestly, galt, what the hell are you talking about, ceteris paribus. People don't make housing decisions based on calculating a parabola of crime at a consisent, measurable level. That is just stupid.