This morning, a 14-year-old boy was shot in the leg on the No. 15 bus in West Baltimore.
Hey Kevin... generally speaking, we shouldn't stab our friends.
The Greater Baltimore Committee has statistics that prove Baltimore's a pretty great place to live.
It's got nothing to do with crime, but 16 cats died in a Cockeysville fire, and a 300-pound man and his dog died in a fire in the Southwestern.
Something went down around 11:00 last night at the corner of S. Broadway and E. Pratt. Does anybody know what happened?
7 comments:
Ahem! Please keep in mind in which way Greater Baltimore is defined by the GBC:
Greater Baltimore – Baltimore City and the five surrounding counties (Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard Counties)
(from their website)
That's not the same as "Baltimore's so much better!"
Baltimore (City) is not.
I think Olesker's point is that there is good stuff happening in the region. "Not all of this is the city’s gain, but plenty of it is." He uses the Hopkins biotech park as an example, and it's a valid one. The existence of the city's problems does not eliminate its strengths.
I would say that the thrust of Olesker's piece is in some way the reason for this blog, and the reason we come here. Baltimore has been and can be a wonderful place with some truely great things to offer. However the crime rate is one of the biggest issues with living/working in the city. Once you get past that then I'd rank the schools as the number 2 issue.
Why am I not in the city? I do not want to be in fear of being robbed or killed at any moment. I want my kids to play outside without fear of what may happen.
Murder by gunshot today at the 1700 block, N. Dallas.
Excuse me? Doesn't this article make my argument for me ?
As I read it, the 'success' has been that violent offenders are not so much allowed to commit violent crimes here as they were last year. My question is: on whose authority were they allowed easy sentences before ?
What is this crap about deciding when to take it easy on criminals and when to tighten up ?
Has the law changed? No, just the political pressure on prosecutors.
This is why I've never understood the expression 'zero tolerance'. If the answer is "No.", how does it get to be "Maybe." without a change in law ?
And what other than change in the prevalence of crime would authorize the Executive branch decide to increase or decrease its enforcement effort ?
Who are these people to decide how much crime (or of which type) to allow criminals to subject me to ?
Regarding the 14 year old who got capped - does anyone get the impression that the city leadership is trying to recycle the same basic rhetoric regarding every MTA shooting/stabbing/beating/illegal action?
|---stream of consciousness rant begins here---|
As we end this year and I reflect on all that's happened in the city, I'm forced to reflect on my time here. Thinking back, I've always seen Baltimore Crime as three things:
1) a citizen's compilation of the illegal, unethical, and otherwise damn foolish actions of people in the state (and specifically baltimore)
2) A forum in which all reasonably minded people to discuss the actions and issues taking place here in the city
3) A reminder that despite the saccharine, revisionist rhetoric given to us by a lot of the people here and the ostrich-like ability for many of the citizens here to ignore it (as well as our leadership's incredulous ability to sell that same rationale to us) that Crime is an issue not only in the most desolate regions, but indeed, the entire jurisdiction of baltimore city.
Some of us have only been here a few years and are fed up with it. Others have lived here for their entire lives. The continuity, to me, is that we all see there's a problem here. However, therein lies the rub. What causes the problem of baltimore (and perhaps, general urban) crime?
The issue, if you ask me, is ultimately two-fold:
1) Not all, but at least a significant amount of the people of this city are implicitly approving of it through not holding anyone accountable (do nothing leadership they elect, not convicting the guilty, etc.), or are explicitly approving of it by committing the crimes, and
2) The leadership, well aware of this (i'm using leadership in a very broad sense here), are running with it by saying and doing things that will keep the aforementioned group doing what they're doing.
The fact of the matter is this: caring, truly caring in this city can only lead to trouble, even if 'caring' in this sense is caring for your own safety. Neighborhood watchers are intimidated, beaten, even made victims of acts like firebombing. Policemen have to be fearful of being accused of everything ranging from racism and brutality rather than protecting the citizens of this town as so many of them willingly do (although it can be argued that quite a few of them are the problem as well, which I'm still on the fence about).
Say what you will, but I'm tired of it. I'm sick and tired of two decades of living in fear. I'm tired of not being able to take my fiancee about town out of concern that something may or may not happen. And I'm tired of wondering whether or not baltimore is a place to raise a family.
|---stream of consciousness rant ends here---|
Things we won't see in Baltimore soon.
Oh, and you can't wait for the busses, either.
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