Law enforcement expert believes "advance level of cooperation" could help fight crime - Fox Baltimore
BALTIMORE (WBFF) — FOX45 investigates whether city crime and city leaders’ policies influence what’s happening in neighboring counties.
Baltimore City is on pace for 300 murders again for the seventh year.
Baltimore County is seeing an uptick in violence, on track for its deadliest year ever.
Fox45 has also been covering the rash of smash and grab ATM thefts and attempted thefts throughout the Baltimore region.
“In terms of the cross-border issue in the city and the county, I think it requires an advanced level of cooperation between the two jurisdictions. Unfortunately I think the political environment is a little bit different,” says former BPD deputy commissioner Jason Johnson.
“It really comes from the prosecutor, Marilyn Mosby‘s policy of not enforcing the law or prosecuting criminals. That leads to a culture of lawlessness,” says Maury Richards, a law enforcement expert and former police chief of Martinsburg, WV and a lieutenant with Chicago police.
Johnson says he sees a correlation in the city policies and crime.
"I do and the reason I say that is Baltimore is not the only one. In cities across America that have elected prosecutors that have run on these policies that Ms. Mosby has instituted in Baltimore City, it’s had the same impact. Across the country you can look at virtually any jurisdiction that’s elected social justice prosecutors. It’s had the same effect. And then it also has spilled into neighboring jurisdictions that often do not have the same approach to crime,” he says.
Richards says when it comes to the rash of ATM thefts, the city needs to send a strong message.
"It’s just a matter of time before someone gets killed in one of these stores. It needs to be stopped now,” he says. “It all comes down to criminals’ mentality. If they don’t think there’s going to be serious consequences with committing crime, they’re going to keep on doing it."
Johnson says police staffing levels also play a part. “Really what is hamstringing the city right now is manpower,” he says.
The city just raised officers' pay to try to bring up numbers. Under the new deal, city officers will be some of the highest paid in the state.
“Which should help,” Johnson adds. “But the fact is it really is not all about money. It’s about how officers feel treated by city government. That’s another area where they really need to turn things around.”
source: https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/law-enforcement-expert-believes-advance-level-of-cooperation-could-help-fight-crime
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