Opinions regarding the Baltimore Police Department (apartment, crime, living)

[BMoreJuice]

What is everybody's thoughts about the job performance of the BPD? We all know that many folks in Baltimore has a hostile relationship with the Police and consequently, some take the law into their own hands. What can the police do to regain the trust of the community? What can the police do to regain smooth operations within its own department? ( The police union have more to say about operations than the commissioner).

The police has a very important role in the city for not only providing protection to its citizens but to aid the city back to its once flourishing self.



Good blog about Baltimore crime updated daily: Baltimore Crime

- I had the please of talking to the creator of the blog. He has some very valuable statistics and details that I will share latte on.

[kharing]

I've never had a negative experience with the BPD in the six years that I've lived here....but I follow the law. I do wish the police were more visible in the city.

You have lattes?

[jonjj]

They are doing the best they can given all the crazies out there.

[BMoreJuice]

It appears that the BPD has allot of internal issues. Promotions are based upon arrests made as oppose to quality of the person for the position. And when you have 79% of you're police force living outside of Baltimore City, the officers do not take as much ownership of their community as one's that live in the city. Homicides continue to increase as this summer we had over 50 shootings in just a week, something is not right. And when Baltimorean's have no relationship with the police, many crimes are left unsolved ( And under 20% to be exact).

I don't have a solution to the problem and I think many do their job. But being a West Baltimore resident, I have seen some stupid things the police have done.

[mpheels]

I've only had good interactions with the BPD so far, but I'm a 30 year old white woman and I know that my experience with BPD is different than others.

On the one hand, I've seen some great community policing and signs that officers do care a great deal about people in the city. I watched the marathon yesterday from St Paul near Centre St. The officers controlling traffic were great, the help cars cross St Paul whenever there was a break in the runners, plus they were cheering on the runners and joking with spectators. I've also seen them show great humanity when checking on a woman passed out at the bus stop near my apartment. It would be pretty easy to dismiss her as just another junkie (passed out in the middle of the sidewalk at 3pm on a weekday), but they were clearly concerned for her and took care to protect her privacy/dignity from on lookers while waiting for EMS.

On the other hand, I can see how people who don't look like me would have less positive interactions. I walked down Broadway from JHMI to Fells on a Friday after classes a few weeks ago. This was around 6pm on a late summer evening, with lots of stuff going on in town (O's game, concerts, etc). There was an officer standing on the corner casually swinging his club. I'm all for police visibility, but his posture/pose clearly sent the message that he was ready for some "furtive movements" and didn't really have much respect for the community. If you set that as the default, it should be a surprise that people respond negatively

[Underdog22]

First post. Subject interests me as I work in the court system. Problem has been corruption for a very long time. Many officers involved in criminal activity. Too many indicted over the last ten years to count. Others simply terminated and many others riding a desk due to dishonesty. Testimony is frequently embellished and sometimes outright fabricated. This is not an opinion - a bit of research will confirm convictions, terminations and jail sentences. For those who are honest there is still a problem with outright thug like behavior. BCPD operates on some tough turf, but it is a volunteer force so policing in the city is a choice. Respect goes two ways so there is some reaping what they sow. Many good guys and gals on the force to be sure, but after seeing the system from the inside for the last 15 years - and having the opportunity to compare with the county departments - I don‘t have much faith in the integrity of the department as a whole. It seems the city has been unable to get a grip on this problem which has been getting worse over the last 10 years. You can‘t just change the brass, it is the culture of the department at every leadership level that must be changed with zero tolerance employed until this mindset is irradicated. It would also help if the police union got on board, but other than lip service that is unlikely. Nothing likely to change anytime soon.

[rfp]

I have to agree with Underdog22 above. I grew up in Baltimore until the age of 26 and have lived in several large cities on the east coast and in the midwest. In my experience I have found most cops to be brutish thugs. They lie and write just about anything in a report. Chicago cops are the worst. Just my 2¢.

[lanhvtnymd]

I avoid the police although I haven't had any problems. They always seem to be on task when I am in central Baltimore. I honestly rarely see them in East (but I'm usually just on Hopkins campus, all I see are Hopkins cops) but more frequently in central and West Baltimore (where I was doing an internship there were two substations, one immediately across the street....place was crawling with cops).

My main problem with cops in the past has been getting pulled over in the middle of nowhere (deep in the Adirondacks) with no explanation whatsoever, and when I have sought them out (e.g., road rage I've been on the receiving end on, being trapped in a flash flood although in retrospect this was more appropriate for the fire department) they have not responded. So I try to take care of myself. I have learned that the cops are typically not responsive when I need them.