"Two months after a city jury acquitted a Baltimore officer of one set of rape charges, city prosecutors today dropped a second set of rape charges against him."
He faces trial again in two weeks for illegally carrying a handgun.
William Thomas Parrish III, 25, of Reisterstown, allegedly kidnapped, beat, burned, tattooed and raped a woman at his grandfather's house in Finksburg.
A man shot ot death in Woodlawn was ID'd as Jamar Mackie, 24.
2 comments:
WJZ indicates Mayor Dixon intends an implementation of homicide-beleaguered Philadelphia's Operation SafeStreets in order to address the rising homicide rate here.
SafeStreets was a strategy conceived under Mayor Street, who views homicide as "a social problem" more so than a behavioral one. From the Philly PDbwebsite:
Police Department's Goal in Operation Safe Streets
Thus, the formidable goal of the Philadelphia Police Department in Operation Safe Streets is to return control of the streets of Philadelphia to the neighbors by preventing any open air drug markets from conducting business within the boundaries of Philadelphia. To meet this daunting goal, the police department, has identified over 200 "drug corners" and intends to disrupt, dissuade and deter the drug trade by committing an indefinite and unrelenting presence of police officers on these drug corners. Night and day, police officers will hold these corners not to arrest, but to prevent drug sales from occurring. It is the intention that the mere presence of the police will effectively and instantly bring an end to open air drug markets in Philadelphia. This combination of police presence with the complete elimination of open air drug trafficking will provide the residents of these beleaguered neighborhoods the safety and security needed to again reclaim their streets without fear of violence, retribution or intimidation.
Strategy
Clearly, the first step in developing the operational plans for Operation Safe Streets was to identify every open air drug market and potential market in the City of Philadelphia. To accomplish this task, crime patterns, shootings, and homicides were analyzed and mapped using the Department's geocoding software. Input was obtained from seasoned officers from the Narcotics Bureau regarding existing criminal enterprises and ongoing investigations. The District Commanders and sector officers were consulted and, equally important, the communities were asked to help. Consequently, almost three hundred open air drug markets were identified and mapped.
This was only the first step. Once the locations were identified, Commissioner Johnson and Deputy Commissioner Robert Mitchell developed a staffing model which would enable the police department to place two uniformed officers on every location identified. This was not as easy as it may sound. It would require approximately six hundred officers for each tour of duty around the clock. While this was overwhelming in and of itself, the Mayor was insistent that existing emergency service would not be compromised in any manner. Hence, the shifts were extended to ten or twelve hours and officers were recruited to work on their days off. Obviously, the cost of Operation Safe Streets is not cheap. However, the cost of not implementing it is far greater. In a bold gesture the Mayor approved the plan and the cost.
Thus, on May 1, 2002 phase one of Operation Safe Streets began. Two police officers were deployed to every identified open air drug market in the City of Philadelphia. The effects were dramatic and anticipated. Open air drug markets were out of business. As expected the criminals have shifted their operations indoors.
Well, the Philly PD is down by about 500 officers and, well, let's look at its homicides:
2002 288
2006 406
How's that workin' out for ya?
Now, when I studied arithmetic, we called that a 41% increase, but then again I never learned the Baltimore City Public School style of arithmetic.
So, how do our murder stats look?
2006 276 +2.6%
2005 269 -2.5%
2004 276 +2.2%
2003 270 +2.2%
2002 253 -6.7%
2001 256 +1.2%
2000 261 +2.0%
1999 299 -12.7%
Based upon our year-to-date trajectory, all of those improvements claimed by Mr. O'Malley during his administration will be gone by yearend and we will have experienced incremental homicide increases in five of the eight years. This is not good.
Madame Mayor, a social services delivery strategy may make a great campaign platform in the inner city, but it's not going to impress anyone in the criminal justice field, which is what policing is all about.
Baltimore needs to be less of a haven for criminals. Right now, it's like a goddamn penal colony. And yes, that means arrest and a policy of deterrence through incarceration and incapacitation.
For those drug dependents who are exceptionally good candidates for treatment, give it to them. I fully endorse that. They, at least, tend to have a lower relapse rate.
But those, like the Police Commissioner's daughter, who embrace it should not be allowed the crutch of 'it's not my fault, it's the drugs'. I don't really care. You cannot victimize others.
maybe you did learn the baltimore city public school style of arithmetic. 256 is lower than 261, which in turn is lower than 299. but i agree, why the hell would we adopt a strategy being used in philadelphia when philly is getting significantly worse every single year?
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