Sunday, June 10, 2007

June 10

Michael Simms, an 18-year-old Marine home on leave, was stabbed to death. His sister was also murdered in 1998.

Someone was shot at the McDonald's on Cold Spring Lane & Reisterstown Road.

Politics:
Candidates for mayor and city council will have their first public forum this evening from 4-6 at St. Matthew's Catholic Church on Loch Raven Boulevard.

19 comments:

DurhamSt said...

Remember that Baltimore - Iraq poll?
Baltimore is more tragic.

ppatin said...

"Simms was a Marine Reservist with no record."

Someone tell this to Leonard Hamm the next time he says that only criminals get killed in Baltimore.

SUPREME said...

I have nephews his age(Simms),this is TERRIBLE ....


Late 80's early 90's when the MURDER rate was around 300+ it was strictly about DRUGS and regular GET BACK!!! trust me.....Now its shameless senseless ANARCHY controlling BALTIMORE .... I never thought that GANGS would catch on in the CITY OF SLICK!!

Just the other day i seen a memorial for a slain GANG MEMBER in front of a house(draped around a tree) on LAKEWOOD or LINWOOD decorated like it was for some HOLIDAY...
not only are the COPS outnumbered,
they also wanna make it home in one
PIECE.. THEY ARE TERRIFIED !!

John Galt said...

Examining the number of full-time sworn officers per murder, I find the following results, among others:

The Midwest/Mountain states have about 75 officers/homicide. (these include some fairly urban cities)

Th Southwest/Midsouth states have around 32.

Texas, which is a region all its own, has 35.

The State of Maryland has 27 fulltime sworns per homicide, while Baltimore County employs about 22 full-time sworn officers per homicide.

How about Baltimore City? Under 10.

Something needs to change.

John Galt said...

Well, the candidates' forum was pretty much canned, with questions constructed to advance BUILD's agenda:

1 free recreational facilities
2 free jobs for the unqualified
3 $100 million for subsidized housing
4 free after-school childcare

Did I miss something? Does BUILD own the City? Is it now BUILDtimore ?

I remind you: the City now spends $300 million on grants, subsidies of nonprofits, etc. It can afford to double the number of cops, but it has to stop handing out free goodies. And BUILD needs to stop panhandling. Please.

Maurice Bradbury said...

I just watched Fox to see what they had to say about the Michael Simms murder. I was sure that this would be one that would score some time, interviews, hand-wringing. Nope, TEN SECONDS.
This story will either go national or be completely ignored, and it's looking like the latter.
And on the same day the Sun runs their annual "don't worry, it's mostly bad people" op-eds.

Maurice Bradbury said...

You went to that, galt?
What else did you go do for fun tonight? Clean toilets with yout tounge? Stick Old Bay in your eye? Apply clothespins to your dangly bits?

John Galt said...

Shooting on the 4000 block, Edmondson Ave.

John Galt said...

Because Jack Young has dredged up the ‘solution’ of legalizing drug use, let’s talk about that.

The Netherlands has not legalized the use of ‘traditional hemp products’: it has decriminalized them by giving prosecutors broad discretion to waive penalties when in the public interest.

The use of Schedule I drugs, heroin, crack, cocaine, meth, and LSD, remains prohibited and aggressively prosecuted.

Thus, they’ve divided the market between hard use and recreational products. Tradiional hemp (pot & nonliquid hash) abusers who accumulate violations are subject to progressive penalties: four violations and you face incarceration unless you quit.

Not exactly what Jack's proposing.

How does all this compare to Baltimore? Well, Baltimore is principally a heroin market. The Dutch have never considered decriminalizing a harmful substance like heroin. Even ‘hemp products’ are not street drugs. They are distributed primarily through retail coffeehouses, which are overseen by police.

Our economic problem here has little to do with chemical stimulants. Were we to decriminalize low-impact drugs tomorrow, Baltimore’s criminal class, which is a huge chunk of its population, would continue to deal in forbidden Schedule I products. If you went so far as to decriminalize them, our criminals would find some other laws which are profitable to break, whether that means gun-running or software piracy. These people are killers. They will find another felony-class activity. They will continue to be a public hazard. They will not tend to go apply for a low-wage, unskilled job in a warehouse. They will continue to need police supervision. The problem here is not tied to a chemical signature. Baltimore is substantially characterized by a hoodlum identity, whether they traffick in drugs or in stolen cars.

That problem is going nowhere, and political leaders need to address themselves to it, rather than apologist diversions. What do you propose to do about your large population of conduct criminals? These are not jaywalkers; they are nasty hoodlums. Domestic insurgents.

Gor said...

Spot on Galt.

Also, my last place of residence was San Diego, they had a ratio of 65 cops per murder (and I thought that place was unsafe).

and, I remember someone stated that in was safer for a young black male to be serving in the military in Iraq than to be living in Baltimore, so far it looks like that hasn't changed, but I'm sure Madame Mayor would disagree.

ppatin said...

Michael Simms was killed on the 100 block of S. Chapel Street, in case you want to update the murder list.

ppatin said...

Galt, it's probably worth noting that we need more prosecutors and judges just as much as we need more cops. Plenty of criminals in Baltimore are being caught for serious crimes such as armed robbery, agg. assault & gun violations, but then being let off with slaps on the wrist. The hoodlum who murdered det. Chesley is a good example of this. If the state's attorney's office had more resources they could be less generous in offering plea bargains. It would also help if our lawmakers would stiffen penalties for criminals. They should start by eliminating parole for violent felonies, and making it impossible for judges to suspend large parts of a sentence.

ppatin said...

Two people were murdered in seperate incidents this morning. Adult male shot in the head on the 1500 block of N. Hilton Street and an adult female found behind Bentalou Elementary School. I believe that brings us up to 140 murders for the year, so if we keep up the current rate we should hit 315 by year's end. Ugh.

Gor said...

Simms murder is being report on Fox news website's homepage, but not on CNN.

Also, it seems capital punishment works (according to a new study), but I don't think Gov. O'Malley is concerned.

ppatin said...

"Also, it seems capital punishment works (according to a new study), but I don't think Gov. O'Malley is concerned."

Or Pat Jessamy...

Anonymous said...

Neither is the well informed Baltimore Jury pool...

John Galt said...

Yes, if an offender is going to commit a crime with a five year max sentence, we can 1) send him once for five years or 2)suspend/good behavior/parole 80% of it and go through that five times, with five times the cops, five times the prosecutors, and five times the judges. Either way, he needs to be off the streets.

I'd like to see the legislature impose mandatory minimums on repeat felony charges in Baltimore City as part of an emergency management package. Judges always object because it limits their discretion. Well,.... yeah.

We shouldn't need an army of legal professionals to reprosecute the same people for the same things over and over again. Another way would be for suspended sentences and nolle pros to be recallable upon reconviction. That would probably run afoul of double jeopardy and maybe the right to speedy trial. It would also be an evidentiary headache down the road.

ppatin said...

"Another way would be for suspended sentences and nolle pros to be recallable upon reconviction. That would probably run afoul of double jeopardy and maybe the right to speedy trial."

Since a nolle pros means that a person was never convicted of anything I don't think you can hold that over his head. A suspended sentence on the other means he has been convicted of a crime, so that should certainly be usable.

burgersub said...

it was the first block of south chapel street, not the 100 hundred block.