Baltimore Residents Blame Record-High Murder Rate On Lower Police Presence

The title of this post is the headline of an NPR piece (written two and a half years ago but unfortunately more timely than ever) discussing what people living in Baltimore’s inner city actually want from the police.  The answer NPR found can be summarized in one word:  More.

They don’t want abusive police, obviously, as no one would.  They want police who talk to them and respond to their needs both for respect and safety.   But the basic thing they want  —  notwithstanding what we hear from leftist think tanks and law professors who Live Somewhere Else  —  is more and more active policing.

The article starts with these paragraphs:

For the third year in a row, Baltimore, Md., has had more than 300 murders, reaching a new record of murders per number of residents in 2017.

Some residents attribute the high murder rate to relaxed police patrols in the city following high-profile cases of police brutality. Officers have backed off in neighborhoods, like the one where Freddie Gray was arrested.

The Rev. Kinji Scott, a pastor in Baltimore who’s held positions in local city government, says the opposite needs to happen.

“We wanted the police there,” Scott says. “We wanted them engaged in the community. We didn’t want them beating the hell out of us, we didn’t want that.”

He’s among activists who are calling for police reform to reduce the violence in Baltimore and several other high-crime cities across the U.S. that he says haven’t seen change. That change begins with a conversation between the communities directly involved, Scott says.

“We need the front line police officers and we need the heart of the black community to step to the forefront of this discussion,” he says. “And that’s when we’re going to see a decrease in crime.”