Law and Order: Frustration over open air drug markets - Fox Baltimore
BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Citizens of Baltimore City continue to express concerns regarding open-air drug markets, although city leaders claim they have increased arrests relating to the issue. Some Baltimoreans are subjected to these drug markets as soon as they leave their houses, severely affecting their quality of life in the city.
"What you have here are really terrible policies and a failure of leadership," said Maury Richards, law enforcement expert.
Richards blames City State's Attorney, Marilyn Mosby. In March 2020, Mosby decided her office would no longer prosecute people for crimes she deemed low level.
"If you look back last year when Marilyn Mosby announced that she was not going to prosecute 8 or 9 quality of life crimes, she said they were low-level. They are certainly not low-level crimes to the people that live in these neighborhoods."
Crimes like drug possession, prostitution, and trespassing are now considered low-level offenses in Baltimore City. However, Richards believes that those who commit low-level offenses need to be prosecuted in order to put a stop to serious issues affecting city patrons, such as open-air drug markets.
"When it comes down to breaking up open-air drug markets, charges like possession with intent to distribute are absolutely key," said Richards. "When the police do roll up, these drug dealers will not be doing drug deals in front of them. But, they will be in possession of drugs that are packaged up and have drug money. They can be arrested for that, but if they're not prosecuted, and they're not going to go to jail, there is nothing to stop them."
"The bottom line is these criminals are not being deterred. You know that they are going to be back on the street and they are not going to do jail time."
source: https://foxbaltimore.com/morning/law-and-order-frustration-over-open-air-drug-markets
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