The “thin blue line” symbolizes the police’s role in maintaining civilized society. The police are the barrier between the law-abiding and the criminal, the vulnerable and the predatory, order and chaos. Across the United States, police are under attack and the blue line is wavering. In Baltimore, it has broken.
The Baltimore Police Department has been in crisis for years. The BPD operates under an onerous consent decree and is understaffed by 700 officers. Democratic mayor Brandon Scott’s “Group Violence Reduction Strategy,” apparently designed to replace cops with social workers, is responsible for much of the crisis. GVRS produced “Safe Streets,” Scott’s flagship violence-reduction initiative. The Safe Streets program hires ex-convicts and former gang members as “violence interrupters” to mediate conflicts between gang members, drug dealers, and other violent criminals. Safe Streets workers do not cooperate with the police.
In July, I observed in City Journal that Baltimore’s crime-enabling policies had culminated in the worst mass shooting in the city’s history. On July 2, 30 people were shot, two fatally, at an unauthorized “Brooklyn Day” block party in the Brooklyn Homes public housing project.
On August 30, Mayor Scott released the city’s agency after-action reports regarding the mass-shooting incident. The BPD, the Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC), and the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement—the agency administering Safe Streets—each submitted reports.
Many Baltimoreans had hoped that city leadership would use the report as an opportunity to end misguided policies that had elevated concerns for criminals above those for victims. They focused much of their dissatisfaction on Safe Streets, which has evaded scrutiny for years.
The critical issue affecting all BPD operations, including those on Brooklyn Day, is a massive staffing shortage. BPD officers were hopeful that in the wake of the Brooklyn Day disaster, acting police commissioner Richard Worley would finally address short-staffing and the resulting mandatory overtime, canceled off-days, and poor morale.
Instead, Baltimore’s leadership ducked responsibility, remained committed to failed policies, and scapegoated the officers and command staff of BPD’s Southern District. The fallout has put the Baltimore Police Department on the road to extinction.
Let’s take a closer look at the findings.
The BPD report reiterates anti-police critics’ condemnations of law enforcement, placing full blame on the responding officers. It excoriates the Southern District command and officers for failing to learn about the event before it occurred, not requesting additional citywide officers, and showing alleged “indifference” to the community. Acting Commissioner Worley has already made command-staff changes and is seeking to discipline supervisors and officers but refused to call to account other genuinely responsible agencies. Disturbingly, he doesn’t seem interested in obtaining more than a superficial understanding of police decision-making.
The BPD was unaware of the Brooklyn Day block party because event organizers did not obtain a city permit and circumvented police scrutiny by deliberately keeping information off social media. That the BPD lacked prior knowledge of the event isn’t inculpatory. HABC, which manages the entire Brooklyn Homes project, wasn’t aware of the event, either. The only agency with prior knowledge about Brooklyn Day was Safe Streets, and it did not inform the police.
This tragedy would not have happened without the complicity of one or more Brooklyn Homes residents. Hosting an unpermitted block party, enabling public drug and alcohol use, and stealing electricity are all prohibited by the housing authority, but no one will face any accountability for these lease violations. HABC has announced that no residents will be evicted. Worley’s report doesn’t even mention that the event was illegal.
The report also absolves the Safe Streets violence-interrupters of responsibility for the incident. The organization not only concealed its awareness of Brooklyn Day but also its mediation of two conflicts during the event involving individuals armed with guns. Safe Streets refused to notify the police of these confirmed threats. Instead, it inserted the armed antagonists back into the crowd, letting the conflicts re-escalate later.
Worley’s report also ignored how Safe Streets’s noncooperation policy with the BPD obstructed the subsequent investigation. Four of the five violence-interrupters are originally from and still live in the Brooklyn community. They know every criminal in the neighborhood, certainly knew the armed thugs they separated on the night of the shooting, and by now know the identities of all the shooters. Neither the mayor, the city council, nor the interim police commissioner have demanded their cooperation with investigators.
Safe Streets is part of the problem, not the solution. The gang-inspired “no snitching” mentality dominates Brooklyn Homes, and Safe Streets leads by example. Dozens of residents were eyewitnesses to the shooting but refuse to step forward, while others who want to cooperate are intimidated into silence. After nearly three months, only five arrests have been made, the result of surveillance video and home detention monitors placing the offenders at the scene. Nobody has been charged with murder.
Acting Commissioner Worley never stated what he expected the Southern District to do with advance intelligence if it had it, or with additional officers if it had requested them. Should the district’s officers have prevented the illegal event from even starting or inserted officers into a hostile crowd to provide a passive police presence?
In a scandal that Worley offers as a model, BPD’s after-action report includes last year’s Brooklyn Day operation plan. That event was also unpermitted, but through social media, BPD had learned of it a few days in advance. Instead of using this information to prevent the illegal party, BPD crafted an operational plan using overtime to assign more than two dozen officers to the event.
In its Brooklyn Day 2022 plan overview, BPD acknowledged that, as in the past, Brooklyn Homes drug dealers were funding the event! The plan reads: “This event is financially supported by individuals living in the community, and who have historical connections to the sale of controlled dangerous substances” (emphasis added).
In my 29 years of policing, I have never seen an official policy so shocking—and so pathetic. BPD’s 2022 Brooklyn Day operational plan concedes that drug dealers will own and operate the event while the police serve as their security detail. This dysfunction provides insights both into police decision-making during Brooklyn Day 2023 and the subsequent criticism by anti-police politicians.
In other words, since the purpose of obtaining early intelligence had never been to stop the unpermitted event, police supervisors were not motivated to shut down Brooklyn Day 2023 once they learned about it. They decided to maintain the status quo by monitoring the party.
The police knew that they would incur backlash if they decided to shut down the event, arresting some Brooklyn Homes residents in the process. The same politicians trying to burn cops at the stake for inaction and “indifference to the community” would try to burn cops for overreaction and “indifference to the community.” Police were in a no-win situation.
As the crowd swelled to as many as 1,000 and spread over several blocks, officers faced another dilemma. Taking any enforcement action or even entering the crowd without overwhelming backup would have been impossible. Officer safety could not be maintained. Trying to disperse a huge crowd filled with thugs and gang members who were there for “lotta guns, lotta drugs . . . lotta money,” many of whom had been consuming drugs and alcohol for hours, would have resulted in mass arrests, uses of force, and probably a riot.
History helps explain why the BPD is reluctant to engage proactively in hands-on enforcement. Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore’s George Soros-supported state attorney, declined to enforce quality-of-life laws. Mayor Scott and former police commissioner Michael Harrison supported her non-prosecution policy. Mosby and her policies are now gone, but enforcement of those laws has not resumed. In fact, Baltimore’s consent decree admonishes officers from proactively engaging individuals involved in criminality and disorder. The decree states that officers will “address quality-of-life issues in a manner that minimizes stops, citations, searches, arrests, and use of force.” (emphasis added).
Officers are not only hampered by the culture of chaos that Mosby helped inaugurate but also by allegations of racism coming from the department’s highest levels. The most insidious excerpt from BPD’s Brooklyn Day 2023 report was its unsupported speculation that “officer indifference may have compromised the awareness, planning and response,” and that “[m]embers of the community can view such indifference . . . as a form of bias.”
It is absurd to suggest that the Baltimore Police Department is racially biased. For years, the BPD has been a “majority minority” department. Only 45 percent of its officers are white, and six of BPD’s last nine police commissioners have been black.
More than any other major police department in America, the BPD has been infested with woke ideology. BPD instituted an equity office that monitors alleged incidents of bias and oversees a training regimen of diversity, equity, equality, inclusion, accessibility and anti-racism (DEIA)—euphemisms for critical race theory. Officers are inundated with the debunked implicit-bias theory, alleging that hidden racism pervades policing. The equity office conducted an “equity assessment” as part of the Brooklyn Day after-action report.
BPD equity training includes a DEIA Toolkit with a video featuring Kimberlé Crenshaw, a leading critical race theorist. Crenshaw’s presentation instructs BPD officers on intersectionality, a radical leftist doctrine that has been described as “American Maoism.”
Many critical race theorists claim that America is irredeemably racist, that all whites are oppressors, all blacks are victims, and the police are an instrument of racist oppression. This explains the BPD’s equity office reflexively attributing officer inaction to race-based bias. When reality is viewed through an “equity lens,” the viewer ascribes to racism all behavior he disapproves of or doesn’t understand. Consequently, one of the equity office’s post-incident corrective actions will be mandatory training classes in equity policy for all department members. The equity office is a Trojan horse designed to destroy the BPD.
Every American big city will eventually reach its moment of truth where the future of its police department is on the line. Baltimore has come to it. The Brooklyn Day tragedy was the culmination of years of Baltimore’s crime-enabling and police-incapacitating policies. The city’s review process was an extraordinary opportunity to change its disastrous course. The city blew it.
Instead of self-reflection leading to positive transformation, the entire city administration conducted a whitewash of the event and the policies that precipitated it. They covered up the real failures to crucify the one agency that can prevent crime: the Baltimore Police Department.
Nothing kills a police department faster than the destruction of officer morale—and in the BPD, morale is dead. After this report, more good cops will quit or retire early, more officers will back off from proactive policing, and quality men and women who want to serve their community and make a difference will not even apply for the job.
Baltimore’s thin blue line is broken. Anarchy will terrorize the city’s law-abiding citizens. It will get a lot worse before it gets better. The people of Baltimore have the power to resurrect their police department—but to do that, they must first find new leadership for their city.
Maurice Richards is the former chief of the Martinsburg, West Virginia, police department. He worked for 24 years as an officer and lieutenant in the Chicago Police Department and holds a doctorate in adult education from Northern Illinois University.
Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images
Police union says BPD is downplaying 'dangerous' officer shortage to the public
Police union says BPD is downplaying 'dangerous' officer shortage to the public (WBFF)
Baltimore City, MD — There’s no debating, Baltimore City is grappling with a worsening officer shortage. But when you compare just how many officers the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) says they’re down, to how many the police union says they’re down, the numbers don’t add up.
While the BPD says they have 500 officer vacancies, the police union claims they’re actually 700 short.
Circling back to a 2020 consent decree hearing, a federal judge called the department’s staffing levels “critical.” U.S. Chief District Judge James Bredar saying, “I’m serving notice that the Court is alarmed and, you know, pulling the fire alarm. This is, this is the patient bleeding out.” Bredar went on to specify that the BPD needs “at least 2,800 officers” to be fully staffed. At the time, the department had about 2500 officers.
Flash forward to today, the department has only dwindled, reaching a record low of 2100 officers. 700 officers short of what’s been recommended and 200 more than what the BPD is claiming.
In a statement to FOX45, police union president Mike Mancuso accuses the BPD of “deceiving the public.” “This message is not transparent at all!” Mancuso wrote in part, “This brings us to the very ineffective and low-ball attempt by the city to recruit new officers.”
When asked to explain the discrepancy, the department said, “Our number is based off of budget. The BPD is budgeted for 2604 sworn members.”
“I don't think that to downplay the numbers is a desire not to hire,” said Law enforcement expert and former FBI agent Tyrone Powers.
According to Powers, there’s a reason the BPD may be skewing the stats.
“First of all, you don't want the public to have anxiety and fears. Secondly, you don't want the criminal element who might be looking at those numbers to feel like they're more opportunities,” he said.
Regardless of the exact number, BPD is still significantly understaffed at a time crime is projected to climb.
Ahead of the anticipated summer crime surge, Mancuso says, “We are going into the summer months and our officers are already exhausted due to canceled days off and forced daily overtime. The BPD preaches “health and wellness” but in reality, they could care less about our officers’ well-being. If they did, they would be doing everything possible to retain as well as recruit. This summer you will have the brave men and women of the BPD working double shifts with no days off to try and keep our citizens and visitors safe.”
When asked how the BPD is preparing to tackle the pending summer crime surge amid record low staffing, they replied, “While we cannot comment on something that has not happened, I can share with you that the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) recognizes the seasonality and the challenge in the different tempo that the summer months and holidays may present in addressing crime. Not only do we adjust crime and deployment strategies frequently, but each district produces weekly and quarterly deployment plans to optimize the use of all available resources. There are broad plans but they also incorporate special initiatives that direct our resources more effectively to address short term trends without shifting our focus on longer term issues.”
The following is Mancuso’s full statement on the matter:
Police Commissioner Harrison continues to deceive the public by stating that the Baltimore Police Department is 450 police officer short. This message is not transparent at all! That number actually represents the funded vacancies that exist within the BPD. That is not the number of officers needed to police Baltimore. Judge Bredar is the judge charged with overseeing the Consent Decree in Baltimore. He is a federal judge who, at the January 2020 Consent Decree hearing, told PC Harrison in open court that the actual number of officers needed to police this city was 2,800 to possibly 3,000. Currently Baltimore has about 2,100 sworn members. If you add PC Harrison’s 450 funded vacancies to that you get 2,550 officers. Judge Bredar believes the number should be 2,800 to 3,000, with which FOP3 agrees. So that leaves the BPD at least 700 officers short of what is needed to effectively police this city.
This brings us to the very ineffective and low-ball attempt by the city to recruit new officers. The incentive package for recruitment is low compared to the 5 major Police Departments with which we compete for recruits. As far as a retention package goes, absolutely none exists. Major Police Departments around the country are offering retirement eligible officers tens of thousands of dollars to stay a few extra years until their agencies can catch up on the recruiting end. The BPD does absolutely nothing while our veteran officers continue to leave. This means decades of experience is going out the door, leaving officers with little time in the department to do the training of new officers.
All of which leaves us with a violent city and a critically short-staffed Police Department. We are going into the summer months and our officers are already exhausted due to canceled days off and forced daily overtime. The BPD preaches “health and wellness” but in reality, they could care less about our officers’ well-being. If they did, they would be doing everything possible to retain as well as recruit. This summer you will have the brave men and women of the BPD working double shifts with no days off to try and keep our citizens and visitors safe. Remember though, tired employees in any business tend to make mistakes and errors in judgement that for a law enforcement officer can be devastating. Any negative events that occur should be placed squarely on the shoulders of Mayor Scott and Police Commissioner Harrison. Baltimore has a full calendar of events planned for the warmer months and they will have a very difficult time filling the spots needed to ensure that the public is safe.
Safe Streets
Since 2007, Safe Streets has been Baltimore’s flagship gun violence reduction program. Founded in 2000 by epidemiologist Dr. Gary Slutkin, Cure Violence is a public health approach that uses trusted messengers in the community to interrupt the transmission of violence. Violence interrupters spread anti-violence messages and encourage positive changes in individual behavior as well as community norms around violence. In 2007, the Cure Violence model pioneered in Chicago came to McElderry Park in East Baltimore. In 2021, Safe Streets will be adding its tenth site: Belvedere.
Safe Streets is starting an intensive internal evaluation to identify ways to improve the levels of service and outcomes provided by the ten sites. Using state funds, MONSE has contracted with Dr. Joseph Richardson, Acting Chair of the African-American Studies Department at the University of Maryland, and Dr. Daniel Webster, Director of the Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, to also evaluate Safe Streets and recommend steps for updating the model and integrating an improved Safe Streets into an ecosystem of care to address violence in our communities.
Safe Streets serves the residents of 10 target areas across Baltimore City, totaling 2.6 square miles.
How have Safe Streets contributed to crime reduction?
Past evaluations of the program from Johns Hopkins have found that Safe Streets sites are associated with decreases in fatal and nonfatal shootings, both in the sites' target areas and the area immediately surrounding the sites. In 2020, Safe Streets sites mediated over 2,300 conflicts. In June 2021, the Cherry Hill site celebrated over one year without a homicide in their target area.
Additional information about the program and evaluations can be found here:
A core piece of Safe Streets' model is community mobilization. Sites host events and conduct daily outreach to share information, build trust with community members, and spread the Safe Streets message via credible messengers. Safe Streets sites are regarded as trusted community hubs to access resources and conflict mediation services. In 2020, Safe Streets sites hosted 451 community mobilization events with 58,000+ total attendance.
We are always looking for help from the community to
help us co-produce public safety.
How can you get involved?
Community members can volunteer at any of our Safe Streets sites during community events. If there are individuals who are interested in volunteering long-term, we could use support in the following areas:
GED preparation;
professional development programming and;
connections to life-sustaining resources.
Safe Streets crew worked South Baltimore block party, but shifts ended before mass shooting
Published 7/6/2023 2:00 p.m. EDT, Updated 7/6/2023 2:32 p.m. EDT
Bishop John Watts of Kingdom Life Church Apostolic greets a Safe Streets worker on July 2, following a shooting at Brooklyn Homes. (Jessica Gallagher/The Baltimore Banner)
Four months after city leaders celebrated the results of Safe Streets, their flagship anti-violence program, one of the worst acts of violence in Baltimore history took place squarely within the group’s turf.
Gunfire erupted at a South Baltimore block party on Saturday, leaving two dead and 28 others wounded shortly after midnight. Earlier that night, four Safe Streets workers had monitored the Brooklyn Homes party and stepped in to calm minor arguments. Their shifts went from 3 to 11 p.m., and the crew left around 11:30 p.m., according to the nonprofit that operates Safe Streets in Brooklyn. About an hour later, the shooting started.
“Once the Safe Streets staff heard of the shooting, they immediately returned to the scene, remaining on-site and at the hospitals where victims, including their loved ones, were being treated until 5 a.m.,” Kevin Keegan with Catholic Charities wrote in an email. “The team returned to the scene at 10 a.m. the following morning to continue to support the community.”
Keegan added, “Catholic Charities is proud of our team members in Brooklyn.”
In the context of Baltimore’s burgeoning “community violence intervention ecosystem,” the shooting underscores some of the institutional weaknesses of the Safe Streets program that’s operated in Baltimore since 2007.
As that network of social services groups grows, some have viewed the Safe Streets model as being somewhat outdated. Premised on using longtime community residents as mediators, some gun violence experts have questioned whether that reliance on “OGs,” older folks who have experience in the criminal justice system, is effective at reaching young people, who are now at the heart of the city’s gun violence crisis.
In the case of Saturday night’s shooting, those concerns are compounded by the fact that the understaffed Brooklyn site, which was opened fairly recently in 2019, has not seen the same success as other Safe Streets territories.
A report released by Johns Hopkins University in March noted that the Brooklyn site saw an increase of homicides during its tenure. Daniel Webster, who authored the study, said that it’s hard to know whether the shooting could have been prevented by Safe Streets workers without more details, but the fact that the DJ reportedly stopped the party multiple times to calm tensions stuck out to him.
“While their typical day-to-day stuff doesn’t look like monitoring a very, very large party deep into the night, it is a common thing that community violence intervention programs do,” Webster said. “It’s hard to know with certainty that this was a preventable thing from the Safe Streets angle, but the fact that they were there, they were deployed there, tells me that they thought they could have the potential to prevent shootings.”
More reporting on the Brooklyn Homes mass shooting
Community residents, for their part, have questioned why Safe Streets didn’t do more to intervene before the situation deteriorated further. Many have asked why police weren’t notified, though dispatch communications showed that law enforcement was aware of the party and reports that people there were armed, but chose not to do anything about it.
Beyond that, Safe Streets workers are explicitly trained not to involve law enforcement in their interventions, which maintains their credibility with communities who are distrustful of police after decades of antagonistic relations.
At Brooklyn Homes, police said, two shooters opened fire amid a crowd of hundreds. Two people were killed: Kylis Fagbemi, 20, and Aaliyah Gonzalez, 18, an honors student and recent graduate of Glen Burnie High School. The wounded ranged from age 13 to 32. Authorities are offering $28,000 for information leading to arrests.
Webster added that most of the city’s 10 Safe Streets sites are understaffed. The Brooklyn office is budgeted for five violence interrupters, but two of those positions are currently open. Keegan noted the Safe Streets workers are members of the Brooklyn Homes community and also shaken by the violence.
“They, like so many others including their own families, were directly impacted, injured and traumatized by this event,” he wrote.
The Hopkins gun violence professor also emphasizes that it is entirely plausible that Safe Streets did the best they could to intervene, and someone still came back to the party with a gun.
“Maybe they did everything they could do,” he suggested.
A Safe Streets sticker on the door of a residence in Brooklyn Homes. (Brenda Wintrode)
By midnight, hundreds of teenagers and young adults had converged on the block party. City logs show a flood of 911 calls. By 10 p.m., someone posted online a video clip of a young man flashing a gun. Police radioed that the crowd seemed to near 1,000 people and they dispatched a helicopter.
Families in Brooklyn Homes and people across the city have asked why city officials failed to make sure the annual Brooklyn Day celebration was safe and why police did not intervene when the party spun out of control.
Sunday morning, a woman who asked for anonymity to protect her safety told The Baltimore Banner there had been repeated scares that young people had brought guns. The woman said she asked Safe Streets workers to step in.
“I asked them, why don’t y’all mediate? They said, ‘we don’t know what’s going on,’” she recalled.
Safe Streets is funded with a mix of city and state dollars totaling about $5 million in the budget year ending June 30.
The Public Safety Committee of the Baltimore City Council has called a meeting for next Thursday to examine the response of city agencies and police to the party and the shooting.
Reporter Hallie Miller contributed to this article.
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On July 2, a huge crowd gathered at Baltimore’s Brooklyn Homes public housing project for a block party. The “Brooklyn Day” celebration culminated in the worst mass shooting in Baltimore’s history, with 30 victims, including two fatalities; police recovered shell casings from as many as 16 guns. Before a single arrest had been made or weapon recovered, local officials were blaming guns for the incident, with Baltimore’s young Democratic mayor, Brandon Scott, condemning Congress for not banning “ghost guns.” But the Brooklyn Homes shooting was the inevitable result of policies that have engendered crime in Charm City for decades.
Baltimore’s elected officials bear much of the blame for the city’s crime problem. From 2015 until leaving office earlier this year, State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby undermined the rule of law in Baltimore. A George Soros-supported prosecutor, Mosby helped unleash an unprecedented crime wave by dropping cases, refusing to prosecute serious crimes, and keeping violent criminals out of prison. During Mosby’s first year in office alone, Baltimore homicides soared 62 percent; they totaled 2,653 during her tenure. Mosby was guided by an ideology that sees criminals as victims, police as criminals, and victims as collateral damage, even when most of this last group are black (as are 95 percent of all Baltimore homicide victims).
After Mosby’s disastrous tenure, Baltimore’s citizens got fed up. In last July’s Democratic primary, 72 percent of voters rejected her and elected Ivan Bates on a platform to hold criminals accountable.
Unfortunately, Mayor Scott seems to share Mosby’s ideology. As City Council president, Scott helped to slash $22 million from the Baltimore Police Department budget. The money was subsequently restored, but Scott began dismantling the BPD by other means. In 2021, when Baltimore announced its Group Violence Reduction Strategy, I observed that the anti-police scheme sought to replace cops with social workers. Today, the BPD is understaffed by 700 officers.
Meantime, Safe Streets, Scott’s flagship violence-reduction initiative, has also proved a failure. The program hires ex-convicts and supposedly reformed gang members as “violence interrupters” to mediate conflicts between neighborhood gang members, drug dealers, and other violent criminals. Baltimore spent $5 million on Safe Streets last year, and another $21 million is on the way. But Scott has kept secret the details of the program’s policies, operations, and finances. For more than a year, his office has refused to explain how the program works or where the money goes. Disturbingly, Scott hides the identities of Safe Streets workers from the public. The mayor has also channeled millions in taxpayer dollars to nonprofits that manage Safe Street operations and put the workers on their payrolls. Scott then claims that the workers are not city employees, using this ruse to continue concealing their names.
These policies played a clear role in the Brooklyn Day tragedy. The BPD is so short of manpower that, on the night of the block party, only seven officers were on duty in the entire Southern District, where Brooklyn Homes is located. The few officers available to respond faced an impossible situation. Confronted with a crowd of more than 1,000 people, many hostile, police lacked the massive backup they needed. The event organizers were irresponsible in not obtaining a permit. They demonstrated no interest in cooperating with the police or other city departments to ensure a safe and orderly event. Neither Mayor Scott nor any City Council member has held the block party organizers accountable.
The Brooklyn Day catastrophe proved the incompatibility of Safe Streets with building community policing in Baltimore. Safe Streets workers are instructed not to cooperate with the police, a policy that has led to deadly results. Safe Streets workers knew about the event in advance and attended because of the likelihood of violence. They did not share this information with the police. At the event, Safe Streets intervened in five confrontations that threatened imminent violence. They did not call the police. And even as violence and tension escalated throughout the crowd, Safe Streets called it an early night at 11:30 p.m. An hour later, 30 people had been shot and two were dead.
In the aftermath, Safe Streets’ lack of cooperation has obstructed the BPD’s efforts to bring the offenders to justice. Safe Streets has worked in the Brooklyn community for years and knows every gang member and criminal. Its workers either already know the shooters or could learn their identities quickly. But they won’t help the police make arrests.
Mayor Scott supports this non-cooperation policy. He says that it enables the workers to “maintain their credibility with the community.” What Scott really means is that it helps them maintain their credibility with the criminal community.
As a law enforcement leader for 29 years, I have seen genuinely reformed ex-convicts and former gang members make a difference in community violence prevention. As mentors, they can provide leadership to young men and at-risk youth, guiding these young people on a law-abiding path and sharing crime-related information with the police. We need programs like these. But Safe Streets is not one of them. It needs to go.
Baltimore is one of America’s most crime-ridden and dysfunctional cities. But don’t sell its decent law-abiding citizens short. They rose up last year to reclaim their hijacked criminal justice system by throwing out a powerful Soros prosecutor. The Democratic Party primary for Baltimore’s mayor and city council is scheduled for April 2024. Starting now, Baltimoreans must find new leadership who will turn back the ill-conceived leftist policies that have undermined their police department and produced an epidemic of homicide.
Maurice Richards is the former chief of the Martinsburg, West Virginia, police department. He worked for 24 years as an officer and lieutenant in the Chicago Police Department and holds a doctorate in adult education from Northern Illinois University.
Photos: Nathan Howard/Getty Images
T.C. McGowan
I served honorably in the BPD for twenty years, retiring in September of 2019 at the rank of Sergeant. As such, I have first hand knowledge of just how destructive the Consent Decree was and is for the rank and file officers who hold the line every day. Implementing the Consent Decree was THE WORST decision ever agreed to by then Commissioner Anthony Batts, who was subsequently fired and is now quietly (and desperately) trying to achieve a successful career in consulting, because no Police Department in the country will hire him. The Decree is specifically designed to force Officers to do LESS, not more, proactive policing. The Decree targets and punishes any officer who attempts to engage the criminal element, and forces motivated officers to give up and shut down. Good police work requires a proactive approach, and this is something that will, unfortunately, never return to the BPD.
Add to that the insidious nature of (what I like to call) the mentality of The Constant Victim. The Constant Victim is incapable of accepting any responsibility for their actions, instead blaming everyone else for their adult choices. For example, The Constant Victim chooses to operate a motor vehicle while their driving privileges are suspended. Then, when pulled over by a proactive patrol officer, The Constant Victim chooses to whine and cry that Racial Profiling is the cause of their misfortune. This mentality permeates not only Baltimore, but our country as a whole. And it’s only getting worse.
When asked how policing had changed from the time I was hired in 1999 to the time I retired in 2019, I put it thusly: When I graduated the academy in early 2000, veterans close to retirement at that time were all planning to continue in Law Enforcement in some capacity; be it by joining another department, becoming a court bailiff, or some other form of service. Conversely, when I put the badge down for the last time, no one… and I mean NO ONE with the same amount of time under their belts as me, had any intention of ever putting a uniform on again. Welcome to policing in modern America. I seriously fear that it will take another 9/11 type incident for the citizens of this country to realize just how important that Thin Blue Line is. Until that day comes… and it will come… America in general and Baltimore in particular… you’re on your own.
greg
The multiple news conferences by Baltimore's mayor, police chief and state's attorney following the Sept. 25, 2023 brutal murder of Pava LaPere, a young white tech entrepreneur, apparently by a black career criminal, shows that the police apparatus can be efficient. The alleged murderer was arrested within days. Clearly, bogus "Safe Streets" violence mediators didn't prevent this murder, but the mayor's position of record is that we cannot know how many other murders (over 300 happened per year for the past decade) were prevented by this group of ex-felons, each hired at a policeman's salary instead of restoring a depleted police department. No, Mr. Mayor, Baltimoreans cannot know. It's not possible to quantify what did not happen, and there's no public accounting for anything that "Safe Streets" does. Effective policing will return to Baltimore when one of two things happens: Either young white tech entrepreneurs (lives that matter) replace Baltimore's current low-information population OR a responsible adult replaces the wannabe "squeegee kid" (street-corner panhandler) currently occupying the mayor's office.
A check-in on FOX45's investigation into Safe Streets
Safe Streets program under scrutiny as employee pleads guilty to drug dealing within working zone (WBFF)
BALTIMORE (WBFF) — As questions swirl surrounding the implementation of Safe Streets, Baltimore’s flagship gun violence prevention program, FOX45 News’ investigation continues.
The Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, MONSE, oversees the implementation of the Safe Streets program. The City has approved millions of dollars to go to two community-based organizations to run the 10 different Safe Streets sites.
Catholic Charities operates the Penn-North location, along with Cherry Hill, Brooklyn, and Sandtown-Winchester sites. LifeBridge Health Center for Hope operates the sites in Belair-Edison, McElderry Park, Franklin Square, Park Heights, Belvedere, and Woodbourne-McCabe.
Throughout the years-long investigation into Safe Streets, FOX45 News has sent dozens of questions to Mayor Brandon Scott, MONSE leaders, other leaders in City Hall, along with the community-based organizations. Here’s a look at some of the questions that have been asked, and what information has been shared.
Police staffing woes complicate reform effort in Baltimore
BALTIMORE (AP) — After a grueling defensive tactics class with a dozen other recruits, Antonio Martinez secures his expandable baton and wipes the sweat from his brow. He’s getting ready to make his debut as a rookie cop on the streets of Baltimore, a city with the dual misfortune of having high rates of violence and a dysfunctional police force.
At Baltimore’s police academy, the earnest 25-year-old from a law enforcement family said he wants to earn his stripes as a protector of neighborhoods. He was attracted by the agency’s recruitment pitches urging police hopefuls to become part of the “greatest comeback story in America.”
“There’s clearly a goal to change things up here. I want to be part of that change,” said Martinez, adjusting his department-issued duty belt.
Martinez and other cadets have an outsized job before them: help transform a beleaguered police agency struggling to reinvent itself amid a national crisis of confidence in policing. But the city’s thin blue line just keeps getting thinner. The Baltimore Police Department has roughly 400 vacancies among the force’s sworn staff and its recruitment efforts can’t keep pace with those leaving their jobs. Last year, the agency hired one above attrition for the entire year.
Amid the national reckoning on policing in the U.S. since George Floyd’s killing by an officer in Minneapolis, any number of police agencies have struggled to recruit and retain law enforcers. For Baltimore, a city with chronically high rates of violent crime and a dysfunctional police force laboring under a tarnished image, there’s a constant challenge in drawing enough recruits to stem the outflow, including retirements and a churn of younger officers with roughly three to seven years on the job giving up their badges.
While it’s hardly the first time that Baltimore’s force has been below authorized strength, the city is now facing new kinds of pressure. It has to meet hundreds of benchmarks for staffing, accountability, use-of-force policies and other matters before it can prove it’s a transformed agency and get out from under a sweeping oversight program.
Since 2017, the city has been under federal oversight after the U.S. Justice Department released a scathing report detailing longstanding patterns of racial profiling and excessive force. The so-called consent decree is similar to ones undertaken in places such as Ferguson, Missouri, and Cleveland. Some cities return to local control after a few years, others take far longer. The Oakland Police Department has been under a consent decree for nearly 20 years.
A staffing plan calls for 2,785 sworn officers, but city police had 2,398 members on payroll in recent months.
Those closely monitoring the federal intervention in Baltimore are increasingly voicing doubt. The judge overseeing the process, U.S. District Judge James Bredar, said without more bodies the city’s force “will be unable to meet some of the consent decree’s most basic requirements.”
Timothy Mygatt, a Justice Department lawyer, said staffing shortages are affecting the BPD’s ability to achieve compliance in critical areas. These include big shortages in the Public Integrity Bureau, which is down so many investigators that the average time to complete a misconduct probe is now eight months.
But the biggest worry is with patrol’s street-level policing, where Baltimore still routinely has to draft officers to work double shifts, something the decree says must be avoided as it could lead to more unconstitutional law enforcement.
“Tired officers are in a worse position to exercise good judgment,” Mygatt said at a recent hearing.
Rewriting department policy has been relatively smooth. But deploying a new model of community policing on Baltimore’s streets and gaining citizen trust — the core of the entire intervention — has barely begun.
Some residents wonder if Baltimore just needs to focus on implementing the big-ticket reforms since it’s hard to overstate the deep history of distrust between citizens in large swaths of Baltimore and police.
“People can’t see the reforms on the streets. There’s frustration,” said Ray Kelly of the No Boundaries Coalition, an advocacy group in West Baltimore, an area only too familiar with heavy-handed policing and sometimes a complete absence of patrols.
Baltimore Police Department spokeswoman Lindsey Eldridge said the agency will at some stage need to add positions to its budget authorization to meet the long-term staffing goals, but it’s prioritizing the filling of current vacancies before making any request. She also confirmed that 46% of job separations are due to retirement. Earlier this year, Baltimore’s City Council authorized a $555 million budget for the force despite pressures from various quarters to slash it. It included a $28 million increase. This was largely to cover pension obligations and higher insurance premiums.
Some experts who aren’t involved with Baltimore’s decree believe staffing might not prove crucial down the line.
Christy Lopez, a Georgetown University professor who has led Justice Department probes of police agencies in numerous U.S. cities, including Chicago and Ferguson, that police agencies can be more effective even if they’re smaller.
“It would be a huge step backward to respond to police being spread too thin by adding more police to continue doing the work that police should not be doing. Instead, we should narrow the scope of what police do,” Lopez said.
Police often are put in positions to deal with complex calls involving mental health and drug addiction, problems that clinicians and other community partners are better trained to deal with.
Patrol shortages are near daily in the city’s nine districts, which each have three shifts. The head of the local police union, Michael Mancuso, said routinely drafting officers to work patrol is punishing.
“Officers are burned out,” he said.
But in Baltimore’s training academy, new personnel are getting ready to become the next generation of officers. As two Associated Press journalists watched cadets on a recent morning, a trainer told Martinez and his fellow hopefuls not to get anxious about the press attention.
“Don’t worry about their cameras. Pretty soon, the public’s going to be watchin you 24-7,” he said.
City releases after-action report on Baltimore mass shooting at Brooklyn Homes
Wednesday, August 30, 2023 David Collins, Rachel Duncan and Greg Ng, WBAL-TV 11
Fifty-eight days after the shooting killed two people -- Aaliyah Gonzalez, 18, and Kylis Fagbemi, 20 -- and injured 28 others, the long-anticipated report examines the shooting at the Brooklyn Day party and the aftermath from a variety of perspectives.
The 173-page report's key findings include gaps in communication, poor leadership and police officer indifference. It's broken down into four parts from the Baltimore Police Department, the Housing Authority of Baltimore City, the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the Baltimore Office of Emergency Management and the Baltimore City Fire Department.
"I wanted to make sure the assessment we would ultimately produce was comprehensive and uncompromising," Mayor Brandon Scott said at a news conference Wednesday morning. "This mass shooting is one of the most painful chapters in our city's history, which has had more than its fair share of painful chapters."
The report also includes recommendations on changes that need to be made. Moving forward, the city's chief administrative officer will convene meetings with agency leaders to continue to review agency actions and monitor compliance with the recommendations provided in the after action reports.
The report claims the city's response to the shooting was swift and comprehensive; however, there were breakdowns that need to be addressed.
"I was also clear that while I wanted a detailed accounting of mistakes made and actions taken or not taken, I also wanted each report to identify clear recommendations on actions that city government should be taking," Scott said Wednesday morning. "I want to be explicit with all Baltimoreans, we are setting a path forward with the goal of ensuring every mistake outlined in these reports is never repeated."
Findings from the Baltimore Police Department:
Acting Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said BPD made mistakes.
"We know we made mistakes. It was important that our after action report not only mentioned those mistakes, highlighted those mistakes and shortcomings, but also provides recommendations to improve and learn from," Worley said Wednesday morning.
The report claims that had BPD known about the Brooklyn Day party, the department would have been able to move several dozen more officers to the area to help manage the event.
I WATCH: City news conference on morning of report's release
The report found police brass failed to provide officers with direction on how to intervene in the large crowd or to request additional resources. The report indicates there were plenty of officers available to help.
"It's frustrating for me because if we didn't have the people available, I understand, but we had over 100 officers available throughout the city that we could have moved there in a short amount of time," Worley said Wednesday morning.
A major advised officers to "monitor only, don't get drawn in and become a target." Police said multiple people face discipline action, and a major in the Southern District has since been reassigned.
"They turned all of their findings over to the Public Integrity Bureau, which has already served some members with charging papers for different charges during the incident," Worley said Wednesday morning.
Breakdown of intelligence for the event, officer indifference:
The report cites "sustained staffing shortages" in patrols as likely contributing to Southern District officers' inability to form community relationships in Brooklyn that could have foretold of the Brooklyn Day event before it took place.
"Officer indifference may have compromised the awareness, planning and response to Brooklyn Day prior to the large crowds arriving," the report states.
I WATCH: 911 calls from Brooklyn mass shooting shed light on response:
The report goes on to explain that the community can see the indifference -- either real or perceived -- as a form of bias that keeps people from coming forward with information.
"We need to do a more in-depth study of not just the Southern District, but the entire city to see if these inequities are occurring elsewhere," Worley said Wednesday morning.
"The only way we can heal from this trauma is to begin by focusing on accountability, accountability for those who commit the crime, accountability for the police or anyone who showed indifference, accountability for city government that made missteps and take action to ensure that this never happens again in our city," Scott said Wednesday morning.
The report states that BPD's Open Source Intel Unit found one social media post about Brooklyn Day but no other social media posts about before the event. The unit was not staffed to work or monitor social media the day of the event.
"Had those personnel been available, they may have processed social media posts about Brooklyn Day that were happening in real time," the report states.
"For whatever reason, we didn't know about it this year, we should have and we could have. We had chances all during the day to do the same thing, and we missed those chances and we now have to hold ourselves accountable for it," Worley said Wednesday morning.
The report also found that two CitiWatch camera operators saw the crowd activity in the afternoon and early evening, but didn't notify supervisors. A third CitiWatch camera operator would later make notifications at 10:15 p.m. over the radio citing the large crowd size.
Report addresses inequity in police coverage for Brooklyn:
One of the key findings within the review of the police department shows that the patrol assignment that includes Brooklyn Homes has been in the top 1% of busiest patrol areas for the city. The boundaries of that post had not been updated for decades, leaving just one officer responsible for the significantly higher volume of workload in that area.
"When you think about Brooklyn, when you think about the Southern District, when you think about police districts in Baltimore, we know that there has been inequity," Scott said Wednesday morning. "In fact, that's the reason why I've been leading the efforts to redistrict Baltimore police districts for more than a decade. ... Redistricting when into effect a week after this happened. Brooklyn was served by one patrol officer for all those many years, handling 17% of the calls for all of the Southern District. That is inequity at its finest."
Brooklyn now has three officers assigned to its area, the mayor said.
Additionally, based on 2020-2023 records, the Brooklyn Homes area had not received "sufficient proactive efforts" -- including foot patrols, directed patrols, business checks, etc. -- when compared with historic crime rates.
Officers' actions saved lives:
The report found the three shifts for the Southern District were all fully staffed and the officers who responded to the mass shooting used their training and First Aid equipment to stop hemorrhaging and stabilize victims until advanced medical care arrived.
"The conduct by many of those officers demonstrably saved lives, and in many cases, represents heroic efforts that went above and beyond the call of duty," the report states.
In one example, the report includes body-worn camera video of an officer trying to help victims of the shooting, and it explains how the officer and bystanders realized there wasn't time to wait for an ambulance for one of the victims, so the officer brought his patrol car to the victim to take the victim to a hospital.
"The actions that this patrol officer took when providing emergency medical care and then deciding to transport the victim to the hospital undoubtedly saved the life of this gunshot victim," the report states.
Worley said the investigations into the mass shooting and the response will continue.
"We're going to continue to do this. If we get more information a month from now, six months from now that other people knew about this and never escalated it up the chain of command, withheld information, we can continue to investigate this and hold those accountable who made mistakes," Worley said Wednesday morning.
Police have since arrested two youths, Tristan Brian Jackson, 18, of Baltimore, and a 17-year-old boy. Worley said the reward for information leading to an arrest is now $88,000.
Recommendation highlights for BPD:
The report makes several recommendations to include changes to the BPD command staff and changes to involve the police integrity bureau, when necessary. The report claims acting Commissioner Richard Worley will update the mayor on his recommended personnel changes within the next 30 days.
The report also recommends district intelligence officers and district command staff better communicate to ensure proper planning for large gatherings.
It also recommends regular schedules for intelligence units and neighborhood coordination units to include weekends.
Findings from the Housing Authority of Baltimore City:
Housing officials said they do not have live-in workers at the apartments, so when workers left on Friday, July 1, they weren't expected to return until Tuesday because of the July Fourth holiday weekend.
Now, the authority has hired private security to be at the complex to cover some of those gaps.
Housing officials acknowledged the authority needs to build better relationships with the families who live at Brooklyn Homes.
"We do have some trust issues with residents and management at the site. We are looking into that and we're working with our management team to make sure they have proper communications with the residents," HABC CEO Janet Abrahams said Wednesday morning.
Housing officials said they're working with families involved to make sure they understand the terms of their lease, saying no one is being evicted over the Brooklyn Day party.
HABC said it did not receive notice about the Brooklyn Days because the event wasn't organized by tenants as it usually was since before COVID-19.
"The activities that took place at this year's Brooklyn Day are prohibited by HABC," the report states. "Permission must be granted to host events after 4 p.m. If HABC grants permission, the organizers must provide their own security after 4 p.m., as well as the required proof of insurance for any third-party event."
HABC also stated it received no calls to its after-hours emergency hotline about the event or crowds or weapons at the property.
The report states that had HABC known about the event, it would have coordinated public safety efforts with BPD and other city agencies, as it has in the past.
HABC said its leaders followed the agency's emergency response and coordinated with city agencies and service providers, but that it could have been better accomplished with more efficient coordination among all agencies through a Joint Information Center.
HABC said it has since engaged with a third-party evaluator analyze the agency's emergency preparedness plan and ongoing response.
HABC releases statement:
"We want to thank Mayor Scott and his administration for taking the important initiative to assess each agency's response and actions to the tragic incident that occurred on July 2. It's an opportunity to understand what worked well with our emergency response plans and areas where we can improve.
"Most importantly, we want our residents to feel safe in the communities they call home. We want residents and their families to enjoy spending time with each other and their neighbors. It can be done in a manner that is safe and fun.
"Our hearts and prayers continue to be with every victim, family member and resident. It has been a challenging time for Baltimore City, and we hope that justice is served to the victims' families."
Findings from the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement:
"While this incident has greatly traumatized direct and indirect victims in the Brooklyn community, as well as the entire city of Baltimore, we will not stop working to facilitate healing, address residual trauma and move forward as a village to improve the safety of Baltimoreans regardless of ZIP code," said Stefanie Mavronis, interim executive director of MONSE.
Safe Streets workers integrate themselves in communities and work to stop conflict before it becomes violent. During the event, Safe Streets staff mediated five conflicts/interventions involving event participants that included arguments, and all five interactions were marked as resolved.
In the afternoon of the Brooklyn Day event, MONSE reported that Safe Streets Brooklyn violence interrupters observed youths getting off buses, asking where the event was taking place. The report states that the violence interrupters encourage the youths to return home if they weren't sure where they were going.
By the evening, MONSE said the violence interrupters walked through the large groups to separate and spread crowds out. MONSE said Safe Streets staff left the site at the end of their shift at 11 p.m. but returned upon hearing of the shooting.
Among the findings included in the report, MONSE said there is no documented protocol for Safe Streets staff to share knowledge with city leaders about large events or potential/emerging threats to public safety.
"In this case, Safe Streets had no advance information about conflicts among attendees or likely violence at Brooklyn Day, although they were aware of the occurrence of the Brooklyn Day event," the report states.
Part of the model for Safe Streets involves them working independently from law enforcement to maintain credibility in the communities. Authorities are now looking for ways to allow two-way communication.
"That would look like awareness of an event that's going to have more than 50 people, sharing that information if there's prior intelligence of conflict before an event, let's say, between two groups that potentially that have challenges between each other. That's the kind of thing we want escalated," Mavronis said Wednesday morning.
City officials said they also want to find a way for Safe Streets workers to let them know in real time whether situations are getting potentially dangerous enough that they need a police response.
"There are a few proposed policies that we are considering with our site, everything from awareness of an event that was going to have 50 people or more, sharing that information with us," Marvonis said.
Among the report's recommendations, MONSE will update its operation manual for Safe Streets staff to escalate information about potential incidents.
Findings from the Baltimore Office of Emergency Management and Baltimore City Fire Department:
This portion of the report includes a timeline of the agencies' response to the shooting and put forth an improvement plan.
Among its recommendations includes, in part, enhancing dispatch and communication to ensure a swift and coordinated response; improve triage and incident comment to assess the scope of the incident while still treating patients; ensure a safety officer is dispatched to address safety concerns and mitigate risks; and train personnel on incident management, effective communication and decision-making during mass-casualty incidents.
Statement from Mayor Brandon Scott:
In a statement made available along with the release of the report, the mayor said: "The mass shooting in Brooklyn Homes is one of the most painful chapters in our city's history. The loss of two young lives, Aaliyah Gonzalez and Kylis Fagbemi, and the traumatic impact that it had on dozens and dozens of others will leave a devastating impact on our city forever.
"We can begin to heal that trauma by focusing on accountability and taking steps to ensure this never happens again in our city. With these After Action Reports, we've identified a number of findings, revelations and recommendations that will offer us valuable insight into exactly what occurred or did not occur within city government leading up to this horrific act of violence. But they also lay the foundation for the path forward as we seek to address those shortcomings.
"We discussed the need for this type of detailed accounting the very night we arrived on the scene at Brooklyn Homes. These reports are only a first step. Now, we will continue to pursue the reforms necessary to respond. Baltimore City government agencies and counterparts fell short on our promise to our residents, and we will do everything in our power to ensure those mistakes are not repeated.
"We will also not rest until justice is served to those individuals who made the decision to pick up a gun with reckless disregard for the lives of their neighbors and turned a peaceful community event into a traumatic event. The investigation is not slowing down, and we will continue seeking the accountability that this community deserves.
"Baltimore, you have my word that we will address every misstep and, together, find a path forward to heal."
Statement from Baltimore City Council Public Safety and Government Operations Committee Chairman Mark Conway:
"The reports released today capture a heartbreaking series of failures and missed opportunities in the lead-up to the Brooklyn Day event on July 1 and 2 that ended with the shooting that killed Aaliyah Gonzalez and Kylis Fagbemi and injured 28 others. Their findings underscore my conviction that the Baltimore Police Department and Housing Authority should have known more about this event before it occurred, and should have acted sooner before it spiraled out of control. To see that police department personnel was aware of the growing crowds but took minimal action is beyond disappointing. The fact that HABC staff was unaware of an hours long event on their property with hundreds of people until early the next morning suggests gaps in communication that must be addressed going forward.
"At the same time, it is important to recognize the heroic efforts of police officers, EMTs, doctors, nurses, Safe Streets workers and others who tended to victims and comforted stunned loved ones. Words will never be enough to fully express our gratitude to them.
"I already have a number of questions after reviewing the reports and look forward to asking them at the council's next oversight hearing."
The committee scheduled a hearing on the reports and city government response for 1 p.m. on Sept. 13.
Statement from the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 3:
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 3 President Mike Mancuso released a statement Wednesday afternoon, saying the reports find no surprises.
Mancuso wrote in his statement, in part: "Shortly after this horrific event, FOP3 predicted that the Southern District police officers and Southern District command would be the scapegoats."
The union reiterated its long-standing message about BPD staffing levels under the leadership of former Commissioner Michael Harrison, saying he allowed anti-police sentiment and its proponents to flourish in Baltimore, leading to hundreds of officers quitting or retiring than were hired.
Brooklyn Homes resident fears for safety amid increasing threats and intimidation
by Jeff Abell
Brooklyn Homes resident fears for safety amid increasing threats and intimidation (WBFF)
BALTIMORE (WBFF) — A resident of Brooklyn Homes says threats and intimidation have grown so great that she fears for her safety.
"I don't feel safe here. I don't want to be here," said Ashley Johnson.
In the days following the deadly mass shooting at Brooklyn Homes, Johnson was captured in an online photograph speaking with police officers.
Now, she's become a target.
Johnson says vandals have damaged her vehicles and bullied her children.
"They get called snitches or 'your mother's a snitch' and they get bullied and teased and now I have to keep them in the house all over again," said Johnson.
At a community meeting Thursday night, Acting Police Commissioner Richard Worley seemed to discount the threat of stopping snitching in the Brooklyn community.
"I don't know if it's a case of stop snitching. I can tell you we don't have any eyewitnesses and we haven't had anybody come forward and point out any suspects that have pulled the trigger," said Worley.
Retired Police Sergeant Melissa Pinkleton believes the city's top brass should acknowledge the threats surrounding residents at Brooklyn Homes.
"He knows it's part of the problem and if he doesn't, he's in the wrong job. Somebody else needs to do that job," said Pinkleton.
Baltimore Police arrest 15-year-old boy in Brooklyn Homes mass shooting
by Chris Berinato
BALTIMORE (WBFF) — A 15-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with July's mass shooting in Brooklyn homes, according to Baltimore City Police.
The teenager was arrested at a home in the city, according to a news release from police.
According to police, the teen will be charged with 44 offenses including attempted first degree murder, conspiracy to commit first degree murder, attempted second degree murder, reckless endangerment and handgun charges in connection with the shooting on July 2 that left two people dead and 28 others injured.
“BPD continues to work aggressively and diligently on the criminal investigation into the July 2nd, Brooklyn Homes critical incident,” said Acting Commissioner Richard Worley in a news release. “I want to thank the tireless work of our Homicide Detectives and members of our operations bureau, along with our law enforcement partners and our community. We will continue to follow every lead and pursue all of those that were involved in this incident to bring justice to the families and the Brooklyn Homes community.”
Maryland law prevents officials from releasing information about the 15-year-old suspect but did say that the teenager had previously been arrested on August 30th for a handgun violation.
“It is evident by the continued arrests in this case that law enforcement is committed to ensuring every individual who pulled a trigger at the Brooklyn Day shooting is held accountable for their reckless actions that wreaked havoc on our beloved city,” said Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates in a news release. “My office will continue working with our partners at BPD and the state and federal levels to deliver justice for the victims and their families. While we cannot undo the immense trauma inflicted on the Brooklyn community, we can ensure that these acts of violence are met with swift and certain consequences.”
This is the fifth arrest in connection with the mass shooting. No one has been directly charged with killing 18-year-old Aaliyah Gonzales and 20-year-old Kylis Fagbemi.
City Hall report on Brooklyn mass shooting ignites debate over police responsibility
by Jeff Abell
Agency After Action Reports Regarding Brooklyn Homes Mass Shooting Incident (City of Baltimore)
BALTIMORE (WBFF) — City Hall's after action report on July's mass shooting in Brooklyn is unleashing a firestorm of debate.
The 173-page report describes what led to the city's failure to maintain public safety at the block party where two people were killed and 28 others were injured.
"I think the lack of seriousness was a little shocking that we saw from the police department," said City Councilman Mark Conway, who chairs the council' public safety committee.
"It's a deeply disturbing report that, in some cases, showed a level of contempt officers showed toward those that they served," said Councilman Zeke Cohen.
Cohen insists the failure to maintain public safety at the event cannot be excused.
"We need to hold the department accountable," said Cohen. "It's not okay to say, 'well, we're understaffed.'"
While council members demand accountability from law enforcement, some critics complain the council's demands are misplaced.
"So they're going to use BPD as a scapegoat once again," declared WCBM radio host Kim Klacik.
"We're for sure going to lose more officers," said Klacik.
'Lots of guns, lots of drugs, lots of money': A look back at the history of Brooklyn Day block parties
by GARY COLLINS | Fox45 News
Scenes from Brooklyn Day 2020 promotional video (James Jones/YouTube)
BALTIMORE (WBFF) — While the public continues waiting for Baltimore City officials to provide more details about the deadly mass shooting in Brooklyn Homes earlier this month, Fox45 News is investigating the circumstances that led to the tragic incident and the history of the annual "Brooklyn Day" festivities.
Fox45 News has reviewed several online promotional videos for past Brooklyn Day block parties that depict large crowds, underage drinking, illicit drug use and alleged organizers brandishing what appears to be firearms. The videos include footage claiming to be from the 2020, 2021 and 2022 Brooklyn Day celebrations.
Ranging from five to 20 minutes in length, these elaborately produced videos were filmed in high-definition and included drone footage. In all of the videos except for one, the same group of three men are followed throughout their Brooklyn Day experiences.
In the 2020 video, one of the men from this group pulls what appears to be a handgun with an extended magazine from his waistband. He then points the weapon at the camera before placing it back under his shirt.
Man seen in 2020 Brooklyn Day promotional YouTube video pointing gun at camera (James Jones/YouTube)
In another video by the same producer, a 2021 Brooklyn Day attendee explains what he feels that year’s celebration was all about.
Lot of sticks, a lot of guns, a lot of drugs, a lot of b****es, a lot of money. A lot of all that,” the man said in front of the camera.
In these videos, Fox45 News also identified the same 36-year-old West Baltimore resident that confirmed he personally paid for the rental of several party items and attractions at this year's Brooklyn Day event. This individual confirmed to Fox45 News he rented a U-Haul truck that transported much of the equipment for this year’s block party.
According to court records obtained by Fox45 News, the West Baltimore man has a history of alleged cocaine possession and distribution, with most recent charges in February and May 2023.
This person has not been identified as a suspect in the shootings. There is currently no information at this time that he is connected to those responsible for the violent acts that occurred earlier this month.
Scene the morning after Baltimore's worst mass shooting in its recorded history (WBFF)
“We have the moon bounce for the kids, the stage, all that [sic]. We are doing all that. We [are] doing all that for the kids. It’s Brooklyn Day,” a purported 2021 Brooklyn Day organizer said.
Why these videos matter
As of July 19, no one has been directly charged in connection with the 2023 Brooklyn Day mass shooting. The only arrest has been of a 17-year-old that is allegedly seen in a widely circulated social media video pulling what appears to be an assault-style weapon from a backpack. He has only been charged with gun-related offenses.
During a heated Baltimore City Council hearing Thursday, the Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC) testified it was neither “notified” nor assisted in the “planning” for this year’s Brooklyn Day party. HABC reportedly alleged $7,200 was available to Brooklyn Homes residents for community event resources, like tables and chairs. They claim tenants did not seek any funding for this year’s block party.
In a statement to Fox45 News, HABC confirmed its community partner, The Brooklyn Homes Tenant Council, has been defunct for a period of time, but is now active again. Fox45 News confirmed via state records that The Brooklyn Homes Tenant Council’s business filings were forfeited in October 2017.
“The prior association dispersed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Brooklyn Homes Tenant Association recently formed its new membership this past spring,” HABC told Fox45 in a statement.
In the prior Brooklyn Day videos, organizers are heard repeating how many years the block party has been going on.
It’s the third year, Brooklyn Day,” one of the alleged organizers is heard saying in a 2020 video.
That claim is consistent with another 2022 event video uploaded by a separate account that features a DJ announcing the event's fifth year.
Welcome to the motherf***ing fifth annual, motherf***ing Brooklyn Day,” the DJ is heard announcing to attendees in 2022.
Lots of guns, lots of drugs, lots of money - in public housing?
The 36-year-old who helped put together this year's Brooklyn Day event was arrested in May 2023 on drug charges unrelated to July's shooting. In court documents relating to that case, police wrote they were surveying the Brooklyn Homes public housing neighborhood at the time because it’s “one that is plagued by open-air drug trafficking.”
HABC also admitted to Fox45 News there has been a history of criminal activity in the community.
“We rely upon the expertise of Baltimore Police Department to identify and address criminal activity at Brooklyn Homes. We maintain a strong relationship with the Southern District to ensure they are part of our efforts to provide public safety,” HABC tells Fox45.
Scene from Brooklyn Day 2020 promotional video (James Jones/YouTube)
While it has been reported Safe Streets was on-site earlier in the evening at Brooklyn Day 2023, both the police and government officials continue to allege they were not aware of the gathering until it was too late.
Baltimore Police Department dispatch audio reviewed by Fox45 News revealed the agency knew about the large crowd of 900 – 1,000 hours before shots were fired. Officers are heard asking if backup was coming.
10-4, I’m right here. Any other units,” questioned a Baltimore Police Officer on dispatch radio before Brooklyn Day turned fatal.
His sergeant is heard telling him not to go towards the crowd alone.
We’re coming. Fox[trot] is overhead. You’re not going in the crowd by yourself,” Baltimore City Police Sergeant is heard telling his officer.
With a police department struggling to maintain adequate staffing, questions remain as to what law enforcement may have known about the gathering for the last five years prior to this lethal evening.
In response to a series of question about these videos and prior events inside Brooklyn Homes community, the Baltimore Police Department's spokesperson did not speak directly to inquiries made.
Due to this being an ongoing and active criminal investigation, we are unable to comment further to maintain the integrity of the investigation. An after-action report is forthcoming and will be made public," said Baltimore Police Department's spokesperson to Fox45 News.
Dave Boz
"concerns for criminals above those for victims..." "the Baltimore Police Department on the road to extinction..." "no one will face any accountability..." "drug dealers will own and operate the event while the police serve as their security detail..." "enforcement of those laws has not resumed..." "The equity office is a Trojan horse designed to destroy the BPD"
And finally... "It will get a lot worse before it gets better."
A succinct listing of the things a majority of Baltimore voters want. Not "put up with," but actively want. This is unfortunate for the law-abiding citizens who live in Baltimore, but they are not the concern of the authorities, and not particularly welcome except as tax cows or theft targets.
Please contact Det. Ret. Kenny Driscoll if you have any pictures of you or your family members and wish them remembered here on this tribute site to Honor the fine men and women who have served with Honor and Distinction at the Baltimore Police Department. Anyone with information, photographs, memorabilia, or other "Baltimore City Police" items can contact Ret. Det. Kenny Driscoll at Kenny@BaltimoreCityPoliceHistory.com follow us on Twitter @BaltoPoliceHist or like us on Facebook or mail pics to 8138 Dundalk Ave. Baltimore Md. 21222.
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