Today's Blotter has a bunch of disgusting crimes, even by Baltimore standards: a 15-year-old girl was chased down and raped, two women were attacked in Reservoir Hill, and several jackasses did some aggravated assault action at what might be the world's greatest non-profit ice cream shop.
Our police force is, at least temporarily, down 14 officers.
There's still no parole for nonviolent drug offenses.
8 comments:
Are drug dealers really nonviolent? It seems that everyone says the violence is attributable to the drug trade. Then how are drug dealers nonviolent? I really don't understand. Also, how will drug treatment help drug dealers? If the Wire is anyway accurate, most of the dealers on that show are not hooked on drugs. It's more a question of greed/limited opportunities that lead people into drug dealing. Not some addiction.
Anyone ever notice that pro-criminal legislation always seems to be sponsored by delegates from Baltimore City ? And what are they motivated by at this moment? A desire to ensure that the maximum number of criminals are qualified to vote for them.
This is f*@Ked up.
In the U.N., a jurisdiction which primarily exists to further the interests of its criminals is known as a state sponsor of terrorism or a rogue state. When will someone send UNiFil peace-keepers into Baltimore ?
Well I see the city went to crap while I was out!
I looked at this site from vacation and with a little distance it looks like a total parody!
Why IS Baltimore so fuctified? Leftover vestiges of segregation (which is still very real and just began to end 40 years ago-- yet no one ever seems to mention it ... though surely there are people who remember?) sundown suburbs, a lack of human services to poor neighborhoods? A 'take anything and everything you can' ethos (which surely comes with scarcity)?
Anyway... I read the Atlantic "Snitch" piece on the plane-- (can someone post the link to that again?) The most striking thing to me was people who have never left their neighborhood. How common is that? Can you imagine? Going to jail would be a nice change of scenery! I wonder if Baltimore has something like the Fresh Air Fund, where kids get to go to camp?
Yeah insider, no one sells drugs-- drugs sell themselves. And if you were running a halfway decent drug operation you'd "fire" anyone who was dipping into supply. Did you read the chapter in "Freakonomics" about drug gang structure (and its eerie similarity to the NY publishing world?)
I saved a copy of the snitching article on my computer, I can e-mail it to you if you're interested.
Drugs sell themselves, kinda like McDonald's and Burger King. People buy what is spatially available. If a BK is withing 3 blocks, you're gotting a Whopper. If Mickey D's, it'll be a Big Mac.
It's called monopolistic competition and those chains do it by oversaturating the available corners with locations.
The strategy which is not available to them (I think) is for badass Ronald McDonald to do a midnight driveby at BK with an Uzi and just wipe out the staff at a competing location.
The drug business has essentially no barriers to entry, requires no training (other than access to a good bail-bondsman) and would naturally result in the available business being split up between all the 200,000 someodd idle black males in Baltimore, with none really making any $... except for the violence. With violence, small groups of dealers can monopolize a territory, keep the price up, and make $$. But you need the violence.
That's a hell of a Blotter-- that's got to win some kind of award!
I'll save it here...
Police Blotter
Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore and Baltimore County.
Baltimore
Central
Rape // Police were seeking three men who chased a 15-year-old girl from Greenmount and Brentwood avenues to the 200 block of Waxter Way about 2:30 a.m. Thursday and raped her. The girl was treated at Mercy Medical Center.
Knife assault // A 22-year-old woman reported that she and a girlfriend were walking in the 800 block of Newington Ave. in Reservoir Hill about 12:20 a.m. Thursday when she was attacked by two men, one of them armed with a knife who cut her on the left arm. The victim refused medical treatment for an inch-long cut.
Assault // Several men entered Sylvan Cafe in the first block of W. Preston St. about 1 p.m. Thursday and attacked the 21-year-old owner. The victim refused medical treatment for head and back injuries.
Burglary // Someone broke into Sotto Sopra restaurant in the 400 block of N. Charles St. through a window early Thursday and removed more than $400 from a cash register.
Western
Armed robbery // Two men in their late teens or early 20s, one of whom implied he had a handgun, entered Club Paradise Liquors in the 1300 block of Laurens St. about 2:15 p.m. Thursday and fled moments later with a cell phone, sunglasses and more than $200.
Northern
Assault // A 26-year-old man was smoking a cigarette in the 5300 block of York Road about 8:40 p.m. Thursday when he became involved in an argument with another man and was stabbed in the left arm and left elbow. The victim was treated at the scene by medics.
Southern
Stolen vehicle // A burgundy four-door Dodge Dakota with tags 97S 184 was stolen Tuesday in the 1500 block of W. Lombard St.
Southeastern
Burglary // Scaffolding valued at nearly $200 was stolen Thursday morning from a house under renovation in the 2400 block of Jefferson St. Entry was through a window covered with plywood.
Stolen vehicle // A gold 2005 Land Rover with District of Columbia tags CFO 133 was stolen Thursday morning in the 1500 block of Thames St.
Baltimore County
White Marsh
Burglary // Someone broke into a garage in the 7000 block of Ruxford Road between March 1 and Thursday and stole a .25-caliber nail gun valued at $800.
Burglary // Two cars parked in the driveways of two houses in the 7400 block of Brookwood Road were broken into Tuesday. From one vehicle, a digital camera valued at $400 was stolen. From the other, the thief took $10.
Burglary // Jewelry and coins valued at $150 were stolen Thursday from a house in the 4200 block of Apple St. by someone who entered through the front door. During the burglary, the intruder placed a chair under the front door knob to prevent anyone from entering.
Cockeysville
Burglary/assault // Police were seeking a man who forced his way into a house in the first block of Northwood Drive about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday through the front door and assaulted a female occupant who surprised him. The intruder fled with no property. The woman was not injured.
"Are drug dealers really nonviolent?"
Some are. Nicotine dealers and alcohol dealers are almost always nonviolent. Drug prohibition causes a lot of crime and other problems, but fails to prevent much drug use.
john galt's post explains a lot of issues of the drug trade caused by lack of regulation of drug transactions. Sounds a lot like alcohol prohibition in the '20's. This is the price we pay for drug prohibition. I'd rather we tolerate drug use so we could have our streets back.
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